Scarlett Lewis, whose six-year-old son Jesse Lewis was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, took the witness stand in the defamation trial against Infowars host and noted conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and declared "my son existed," a striking repudiation of a man who for years elevated conspiracy theories claiming the shooting never happened.
Lewis looked Jones right in the eye as she took him to task for repeatedly lying about the shooting on his program, saying even though she knows he believes her, "you're going to leave this court house and you're going to say it again on your show."
Lewis and her husband Neil Heslin are suing for damages after a prior court ruling found Jones committed defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
For years, Jones suggested the mass shooting could have been a false flag "staged event" and the victims and families just "crisis actors."
You can hear what Lewis said in the video below.
\u201c\u201cTruth is so vital to our world.\u201d Mother of 6-year-old boy murdered at Sandy Hook tells Alex Jones to his face she and her son are real.\u201d— Mike Sington (@Mike Sington) 1659479543
Lewis noted Jones spread more conspiracy theories about the event as recently as the night before she took the stand, when he declared the case is "one of the greatest show trials ever to happen" and is "the murder of your rights to due process."
She said:
"I wanted to tell you to your face. ... I am a mother, first and foremost, and I know you're a father. And my son existed."
"You're still on your show today trying to say that, implying, that I'm an actress, that I'm deep state. You have, this week. And I don't understand."
"Truth – truth is so vital to our world. Truth is what we base our reality on and we have to agree on that to have a civil society."
"Sandy Hook is a hard truth."
Later, when pressed by Lewis, Jones admitted he "doesn't think" she is an "actor" who is lying about the event.
To that, she said:
"Jesse was real. I am a real mom... ...I know you know that, and that's the problem."
"I know you believe me and yet you're going to leave this court house and you're going to say it again on your show."
Footage of Lewis' emotional testimony quickly went viral and prompted many to praise her while criticizing Jones for propagating falsehoods.
\u201cSanity speaking to insanity\u201d— Andrea Nicole (@Andrea Nicole) 1659579807
\u201cThe composure is incredible. I'd have jumped over the table. I'd be in jail.\u201d— Ben Schmitt (@Ben Schmitt) 1659523750
\u201cI do not know how this woman stayed so calm, she\u2019s incredible, and I\u2019m so angry for her that she even has to do this.\u201d— Katie Vachon (@Katie Vachon) 1659534140
\u201cShe handled this much better than I would have .\u201d— Cee Jay (@Cee Jay) 1659540874
\u201cLying to your audience for ratings has both legal and moral consequences. I hope Alex experience both of those to their fullest extent.\u201d— Tony Johnson (@Tony Johnson) 1659544710
\u201cShe\u2019s much kinder than I could ever be to someone like that\u201d— Patty Quain (@Patty Quain) 1659545718
\u201cNothing would please me more than Alex Jones losing EVERYTHING\u201d— John Heflin \ud83d\udfe3 (@John Heflin \ud83d\udfe3) 1659537436
\u201cImagine having to publicly confront a deranged and grifting multimillionaire conspiracy theorist to prove that your murdered child was \u2013 real. Alex Jones should rot in solitary confinement for the rest of his miserable life.\u201d— Uros (@Uros) 1659547093
\u201cPowerful and so important.\u201d— Joel Searby (@Joel Searby) 1659554315
\u201cI can\u2019t believe someone has to say this to a full grown man\u201d— Medicare for Y\u2019all (@Medicare for Y\u2019all) 1659557661
The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary received renewed attention in the wake of May's mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas in which a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in a fourth and fifth grade classroom.
The Sandy Hook shooting—notorious for being the deadliest mass shooting at a school in United States history—continued to live in infamy in light of the seemingly endless number of conspiracy theories about the event.
In April 2018, Jones was sued for defamation by three parents whose children were killed in the shooting. Jones said the shooting was "completely fake" and a "giant hoax" perpetrated by opponents of the Second Amendment.
Last year, Jones was ordered to pay damages and criticized by a judge for failing to hand over documents requested by the courts. In April 2022, three companies affiliated with Jones filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, according to court documents.
The move was widely perceived as a gambit to avoid paying damages in relation to defamation lawsuits from families of victims of the shooting.
Jones ultimately withdrew his bankruptcy filing.
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