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The families of two children slain in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre have filed lawsuits against right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for claiming the shooting in Connecticut did not happen.
Key points:
- Jesse Lewis and Noah Pozner were among the 20 first-grade students gunned down in 2012
- The lawsuits allege Jones' insistence the shooting was staged inspired others to make death threats against the victims' families
- The families are seeking $US1 million in damages
Neil Heslin, the father of Jesse Lewis, and Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, the parents of Noah Pozner, filed separate defamation lawsuits seeking more than $US1 million ($1.28 million) in damages.
The suits were filed late Monday, local time, in Texas, where Jones' media company, InfoWars, is based.
"Our clients have been tormented for five years by Mr Jones' ghoulish accusations that they are actors who faked their children's deaths as part of a fraud on the American people. Enough is enough," said Mark Bankston, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Jesse and Noah were among the 20 first-grade students and six educators gunned down inside the school in Newtown on December 14, 2012.
The gunman, Adam Lanza, fatally shot his mother before driving to the school to carry out the massacre and then killed himself.
The lawsuits allege that Jones's insistence that the shooting was staged encouraged others to make death threats against the victims' families.
The lawsuit filed by Mr Heslin cites a November 2016 broadcast in which Jones suggested the parents who were interviewed on television were actors.
"So, if children were lost at Sandy Hook, my heart goes out to each and every one of those parents. And the people who say they're parents that I see on the news," Jones said.
"The only problem is, I've watched a lot of soap operas. And I've seen actors before. And I know when I'm watching a movie and when I'm watching something real."
Jones says tragedy 'really happened'
Jones responded to the allegations in a YouTube video, saying the families were being used by the Democratic Party and the media, and that he believes Sandy Hook "really happened".
He invited parents of victims to his show to have a "real discussion" about guns.
He said he believed the lawsuits will be thrown out.
AP
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, broadcasting, united-states
First posted