‘A cowardly act:’ Sandy Hook parents blast Alex Jones for skipping court during defamation trial testimony

On Tuesday the father of a Sandy Hook mass shooting victim blasted Infowars host Alex Jones for not appearing in court to hear the words he and his wife were there to deliver as part of their defamation case against the right-wing provocateur.

Neil Heslin and his wife, Scarlett Lewis, both testified during the Tuesday morning session in Austin district court, which Jones did not attend. The celebrity conspiracist didn’t arrive for proceedings until the afternoon session started, an absence Heslin decried as “a cowardly act.”    

“I’ve been here for a week and a half and [during] my final testimony Mr. Alex Jones does not have the courage to sit in front of me or face me,” Heslin said. 

Both Heslin and Lewis described in detail the torment they suffered for nearly 10 years following the murder of their six-year-old son Jesse, one of 26 individuals killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012—an attack Jones and his followers have labeled a government-masterminded hoax. Heslin and Lewis say they have since been doxxed, harassed and threatened by believers of conspiracy theories spread by Jones. 

“My life has been threatened,” Heslin said. “I fear for my life. I fear for my safety and my family’s safety and their life.” 

When he eventually showed up at the district courthouse Tuesday afternoon, a defiant Jones did not address the parents’ testimony. Instead, Jones launched into an attack on Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, falsely claiming that the judge had “lied when she said we didn’t give them the discovery [documents].” Jones claimed that Gamble had issued a default ruling against him “so she could have a ‘show’ trial,” Fox 7 reported.  

Jones’ remarks refer to a default ruling in favor of Heslin and Lewis issued months ago after Jones and his legal team failed to provide documents and records as required during pre-trial discovery. The current proceedings will determine the extent of the damages Jones is liable for in the case. Heslin and Lewis “just have to prove the damages at this point, because [Jones] abused the discovery process so much,” said Bill Ogden, one of the parents’ attorneys.  

Tuesday’s absence isn’t the first time Jones has been missing from a trial session in the case.

On Friday, Jones skipped appearing in court and instead spent the afternoon live-streaming another episode of his show Infowars, during which he attacked Judge Gamble and plaintiffs’ attorneys as shills of the ‘New World Order’ and encouraged viewers to buy supplements from his website to help pay his legal fees.