Sandy Hook parents suing Alex Jones hire security, go into isolation
Alex Jones, the founder of the conspiracy website Infowars, addresses a crowd of pro-Trump protesters after they storm the grounds of the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Photo: Jon Cherry/Getty Images
The parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim who are suing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones have gone into isolation and hired security after a series of "encounters" in Texas, the News Times reported.
The big picture: Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of 6-year-old Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis, are suing Jones for defamation.
- Jones, founder of the conspiracy website Infowars, repeatedly claimed the shooting never happened and that Jesse, 19 other children and six adults did not die at the elementary school.
- Jones, who has since recanted these claims, is facing multiple defamation lawsuits from Sandy Hook families who say Jones' claims led to harassment, according to Reuters.
Driving the news: Heslin and Lewis received security as a result of "some encounters this week outside of the courthouse" in Texas, the family's attorney Mark Bankston said, per the News Times.
More details: The parents suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of harassment from Jones' followers, a psychiatrist testified on Monday at the trial, according to the Associated Press.
- Forensic psychiatrist Roy Lubit said Heslin and Lewis are frightened that some of Jones' followers are trying to kill them, the AP reported.
- "The overwhelming cause of their pain is what Jones is doing," Lubit said, per the AP.