Alex Jones denied in request for dismissal of defamation lawsuit against him

Jorge L. Ortiz | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Facebook removes Alex Jones' Infowars pages Facebook says it has taken down four pages belonging to rightwing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for violating its hate speech and bullying policies. The Infowars YouTube channel was also terminated. (Aug. 6)

Alex Jones will have to answer for at least one of his conspiracy theories.

The right-wing media host on Thursday was denied in his motion for dismissal of a defamation lawsuit against him, forcing him to address the claims of two parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, the Huffington Post reported.

Judge Scott Jenkins of the 53rd District Court in Austin, Texas, rejected Jones’ argument that, as a citizen exercising his First Amendment rights, he was protected from lawsuits by the Texas Citizens Participation Act.

Jones, whose Infowars media group is based in Austin, was also seeking more than $100,000 in court costs from the parents.

Instead, he faces more than $1 million in damages claimed by Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose 6-year-old son, Noah, was among the 20 kids and six adults slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.

Jones has repeatedly said that mass shooting was an elaborate hoax perpetrated by the government. He has also maintained that the students who spoke out after the Feb. 14 school shooting that took 17 lives in Parkland, Florida, were actors, and that the rampage was orchestrated by gun-control advocates.

Earlier this month, Jones was accused in a court filing of destroying evidence by deleting web pages and video content related to the Sandy Hook carnage.

In two separate lawsuits, Sandy Hook parents said they’ve been subjected to death threats and online harassment by people who believe Jones’ baseless statements. Pozner and De La Rosa said the constant stalking has forced them to move seven times.

More: Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones destroyed evidence, court motion claims

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One of the lawsuits quotes Jones as saying on March 14, 2014: "We've clearly got people where it's actors playing different parts of different people. I've looked at it and undoubtedly there's a cover-up, there's actors, they're manipulating, they've been caught lying and they were pre-planning before it and rolled out with it."

Infowars is also defending itself against a defamation lawsuit brought by a Massachusetts resident named Marcel Fontaine, whom the website misidentified as the Parkland shooter.

Pressure on Jones has intensified from several fronts, including the online platforms he uses to disseminate his propaganda. This month, Facebook, Apple, Spotify, Twitter and YouTube have either purged his content from their websites or suspended his account.

The Huffington Post reported that Jones’ former wife, Kelly Jones, offered her support to parents outside the courthouse during Thursday’s hearing, carrying a sign that read, “Honk 4 Sandy Hook kids.’’

“Texans do care about justice, we care about bullies,” Kelly Jones was quoted as saying. “We’re a strong state and we don’t put up with people bullying kids or parents of murdered schoolkids. We’re not gonna tolerate that.’’