Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ second libel trial is underway in Connecticut as he faces the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that he claimed was a hoax in his broadcasts to millions of television viewers. For three days the court heard from an appointed representative of Jones’ media company, Brittany Paz, about her activities, although much of her testimony was evasive. The jury showed how Infowars’ audience grew exponentially after the tragedy and the company’s revenue increased dramatically. Several videos have been released of Jones’ outrageous claims about the shooting, including when he mocked the parents of the victims as “crisis agents” and presented completely false information about the day’s events. Last month it was ordered to pay nearly $50 million to the parents of one of the slain children by a Texas jury after a similar lawsuit. Now, jurors will decide how much he should pay the relatives of eight victims and the FBI agent who responded to the scene of the 2012 massacre.
Basic points
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Returning to Google Analytics, Mr. Mattei shows data showing that Infowars’ pageviews increased from about 500,000 impressions to 2 million after publishing a false Sandy Hook story in 2014. After fake Sandy Hook stories or videos were posted, Infowars saw a 33.4 percent increase in new visitors to the site, Mr. Mattei showed the jury. Despite all the evidence presented in court, including clearly marked emails and attachments that say so, Ms. Paz refuses to admit that she knows if Infowars uses Google Analytics. Oliver O’Connell September 15, 2022 5:38 p.m 1663260471
In a deep dive into the data surrounding Adan Salazar’s bogus story about the FBI claiming that no one died at Sandy Hook, it is clear that traffic from many sources increased to the site. Ms. Pax admits that the reason is Salazar’s story. The majority of website visitors come from social media. When Jones brought in Halbig to discuss FBI statistics and other false theories about Sandy Hook, social media traffic to Infowars doubled, with more than two-thirds of traffic to the site coming from social media . Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 17:47 1663260894
Ms. Pax was now asked about Free Speech Systems/Infowars income as a corporate representative. He says the company has made millions of dollars. Mr. Mattei corrects her and says in yesterday’s deposition that he said “hundreds of millions of dollars.” Again, Ms. Paz says she can’t recall an exact number, but admits the company brings in more than $100 million but less than $1 billion. Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 17:54 1663261216
Looking at Infowars’ daily revenue figures around the time of the fake FBI story, the day before it aired, the company brought in about $48,000 and the next day $232,000 — a 500 percent increase. Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 18:00 1663261521
Ms. Paz’s direct examination will continue in one hour. As a representative of Free Speech Systems/Infowars, he still refuses to acknowledge that Infowars uses Google Analytics despite all the evidence presented to the court that it does. Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 18:05 1663263032
Jones’ incredible footage raises the eyebrows of the jury
Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times notes that the videos shown in court of Jones airing false claims about Sandy Hook on his show and then immediately turning to selling merchandise and supplements to his audience have raised some eyebrows among jurors. Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 18:30 1663265332
Court resumes after lunch
Court resumes after lunch and Free Speech Systems corporate representative Brittany Paz returns to the stand. Mr. Mattei begins by asking Ms. Paz about a documentary aired by Infowars titled: We Need To Talk About Sandy Hook. Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 19:08 1663265695
Mr. Mattei plays another Infowars video of Jones calling the shooting a “giant hoax.” “How do you deal with a total hoax? How do you convince the public that this is a total hoax?” He says. A caller tells Jones he lives 50 miles from Sandy Hook says “there’s no there, there” and repeats the hoax that the shooting hadn’t happened. There is a feedback loop between Jones and his caller about the conspiracy. Jones says “the whole thing is bogus, and pretty much didn’t happen,” and he came to that conclusion after doing “deep research.” Ms. Paz confirms on the witness stand that Jones did no such research. Jones says he sent an investigator to Newtown. Ms Paz acknowledges that the researcher was Wolfgang Halbig. Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 19:14 1663266312
Ms. Paz is asked to read an email from Halbig to the mother of a Sandy Hook victim in December 2014 accusing her of failing to protect her child by sending him to a school he described as a “toxic waste dump” and accusing her of “danger child”. Halbig wrote: “Josephine, your child, should have expected more from you … you are supposed to protect her from life-threatening health risks when you send her to this school.” Ms. Paz then confirms that despite knowing about the email, Infowars continued to have Halbig as a guest. Another email appears from 2020 in relation to this very court case. Halbig writes to Infowars news director Rob Dew suggesting different deposition strategies. Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 19:25 1663267078
Mr. Mattei proceeds to successfully take down Leny Pozner’s Infowars content for featuring his late son. The jury is shown a clip of Jones saying he had 10 million YouTube viewers a week and “a billion views” since 2008 on various platforms. Mr. Posner’s complaint on YouTube caused his channel to be shut down, and Jones responded by showing Mr. Posner’s business address on air. Ms. Paz was asked if Jones did this in retaliation and says she wouldn’t use that word, but wouldn’t speculate on what word he would use. Oliver O’Connell15 September 2022 19:37
