A Connecticut judge ordered InfoWars founder Alex Jones to sit for a sworn deposition in a defamation lawsuit brought by the families of the children killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting.
Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis ruled Wednesday that Jones must sit for a five-hour deposition by attorneys of the families, who are suing him for alleging the school shooting was a hoax, The Hartford Courant reported.
Bellies ruled that the families are “entitled to conduct discovery likely to lead to admissible evidence for the purposes of opposing the motions to dismiss.”
The lawsuit was brought by the families of four children killed in the shooting, as well as the families of slain teacher Victoria Leigh Soto and slain principal Dawn Hochsprung, as well as FBI agent and first responder William Aldenberg.
Jones alleged that the murdered children never existed:
The lawsuit alleges years of “abusive and outrageous false statements in which Jones and the other defendants have developed, amplified and perpetuated claims that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged and that the 26 families who lost loved ones are paid actors who faked their relatives’ deaths.”
Two other Sandy Hook families have sued Jones in Texas, where his show is based.
Jones keep losing court challenges:
“The ruling by Bellis is the second in the past few weeks against Jones,” The Hartford Courant reported. “Last month Bellis ordered Jones to turn over financial and marketing documents related to his Infowars empire. Attorney Jay Wolman, who is representing Jones, tried to make a direct appeal to the state Supreme Court to overturn that ruling but the court denied that request.”
“Wolman had already filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming Jones is protected under the First Amendment. In court filings, he has compared Jones to the likes of Watergate journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Bellis hasn’t addressed that motion,” the report added.
