The distraught father of a Sandy Hook school shooting victim recently testified how claims made by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones have severely impacted his life.
Jones is currently on trial in Connecticut after being found liable for defamation against the families of victims who died in the horrific 2012 massacre. The alt-right radio show host continuously claimed that the tragedy was a hoax orchestrated by the government - claims he has since gone back on.
Per the New York Times, Jones alleged the shooting was "staged" and "as phony as a $3 bill", and was orchestrated in an effort for the government to enforce stricture gun control measures.
The Sandy Hook school shooting sent shockwaves throughout the nation on December 14th, 2012, after reports of a gunman opening fire at a small Connecticut elementary school made headlines.
The shooter was eventually identified as Adam Lanza, a 20-year-old man who murdered his mother at home before heading to Sandy Hook Elementary School and opening fire with an AR-15. He fired over 150 rounds of ammunition within six minutes.
David Wheeler - whose child, Ben, was one of 28 staff and students fatally shot in the violent school shooting - said that strangers have shown up at his house demanding to see his dead son. He was also harassed on Facebook, and accused of being "a liar" and "a fake."
Insider reported that he told the court: "Someone came to the house and knocked on the door. The person demanded to see Ben, saying 'I know he's here, I know he's alive.'"
Speaking about Jones' outrageous conspiracy theory, Wheeler continued: "After the shock of Ben's murder, it felt like I was underwater and I didn't know which way was up. You're grasping with that, trying to get your head around that. To have someone publicly telling the world that it didn't happen and that you're a fraud and a phony is incredibly disorienting... I couldn't figure it out."
"It felt like I was delegitimized in a way. It makes you feel like you don't matter. Like what you went through doesn't matter," the grieving father added.
Jones is currently involved in this lawsuit to determine how much in compensatory and punitive damages he will owe the victims' families.
As previously reported, this current defamation lawsuit is not the first for Jones, who was recently ordered to pay $4.1 million in compensatory damages to the family of one of the Sandy Hook victims just last month. That trial, held in Austin, Texas, lasted for two weeks and was brought by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis - two parents who lost six-year-old Jesse Lewis.
During that trial, Heslin and Lewis also recounted the disturbing harassment that was directed at them by followers of Jones, who broadcast conspiracy theories on his website, Infowars.
During the recent Texas trial, Jones admitted that the shooting did occur, per a previous report. This admission only came after two years' worth of Jones' private text messages were accidentally leaked by his legal team to Heslin's and Lewis' attorneys.
The far-right conspiracy theorist is currently banned from using YouTube, Spotify, and Twitter for the promotion of hate speech.
