'War against the 1st Amendment.' Alex Jones appears for questioning in Sandy Hook lawsuit

Alex Jones spoke exclusively with News 12 outside of a Bridgeport law office Wednesday. He was there to be questioned by attorneys for the families of school shooting victims.

News 12 Staff

Apr 6, 2022, 3:33 PM

Updated 994 days ago

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Alex Jones spoke exclusively with News 12 outside of a Bridgeport law office Wednesday. He was there to be questioned by attorneys for the families of school shooting victims.
A judge had ordered the Infowars host to face mounting fines until he appeared for a deposition.
Jones appeared before a judge in connection to a lawsuit over his claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. Relatives of the victims are suing Jones for defamation.
"I didn't kill the children of Sandy Hook. Adam Lanza did, but everyone knows Alex Jones is connected to it now because you're using it as a way to demonize the first amendment," said Jones. "They have all demonized me, they have decided I'm going to be destroyed."
While Jones said he couldn't talk about the deposition itself, he said this whole case is about First Amendment rights.
"I'm here because there is a war against the First Amendment," he said. "We have thousands of cases of governments, organizations, corporations and individuals staging events and so Americans ask questions about all of it and we have a right to do that under the First Amendment. The power structure doesn't want people to be able to ask questions. I believe Sandy Hook happened. I'm sorry for the families. But they're being used, in my view, as pawns by Democrat law firms that want to try to shut down Infowars and Alex Jones."
Jones brought up the recent court case with actor Jussie Smollett, who was found guilty of staging a fake hate crime against himself, as a reason for people to ask questions.
Jones said for years he has backtracked on his claims the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, but the "corporate media" never let his quotes or apologies get out.
"They keep misrepresenting that I 'currently am denying it happened' or I 'am attacking the families' - none of that happened. I did question some of the some of the anomalies, when I learned those anomalies were not correct, I corrected myself," he said.
After the 2012 shooting, Jones promoted conspiracy theories about the tragedy, which he has now recanted.
"The idea that they claim some people harass them with no real evidence of that and now I'm going to be taken off the air, which is basically their goal...most of the families didn't sue me and those that did I understand there's a lot of pain, but attacking me won't bring their children back," said Jones.
The plaintiffs have said they have been subjected to harassment and death threats from Jones' followers because of the hoax conspiracy promoted on his website show. Jones has since conceded the shooting did happen.
The Infowars host was recently fined for defying a judge's order to appear for questioning in Austin, Texas on March 23 and 24, citing a health problem. Court records show he paid $75,000 in total and his attorney filed a motion Wednesday to return the fines back to him.
A judge found him liable for damages and a trial on how much he should pay the families is set for August.
A statement from the law firm representing the families says, they appreciate the measures the court took to get the deposition to happen and "likely would not have happened otherwise. Over our objection, Mr. Jones now insists on declaring his entire deposition confidential."
The Associated Press wire services contributed to this report.