Alex Jones faces second trial over Sandy Hook hoax claims

By DAVE COLLINS
Associated Press

A Connecticut jury is set to hear opening arguments about how much money conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting for calling the massacre a hoax. The trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Waterbury, only 18 miles from Newtown, where 20 children and six educators were killed in 2012. Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families say Jones caused the families emotional and psychological harm. Jones says he now believes the shooting did occur, but has cited free speech rights in saying it was a hoax. A Texas jury last month ordered Jones to pay nearly $50 million in damages to Sandy Hook parents in a similar lawsuit over the hoax lies.