Alex Jones...

[Robert]

Sometimes conspiracy theories drive a lot of hatred and violence. Look at the KKK. Look at Hitler. Look at Communist Soviet propaganda. Alex Jones deliberately spread lies against these parents. He knew they were lies. He knew that the parents were suffering consequences because they told him so, and their lawyers told him so. He kept doing that. He kept making money and kept promoting his show with these outrageous claims.

Did you follow the trail or are you just going off your sources that seem to not hold up over time?

[Szdfan]

I think the difference between us is that you see political conspiracies everywhere. Where I do not.

There has been so many "political" conspiracies that have become fact the past 3+ years.

I think there's a lot of confirmation bias.

[Bootstrap]

Sometimes conspiracy theories drive a lot of hatred and violence. Look at the KKK. Look at Hitler. Look at Communist Soviet propaganda. Alex Jones deliberately spread lies against these parents. He knew they were lies. He knew that the parents were suffering consequences because they told him so, and their lawyers told him so. He kept doing that. He kept making money and kept promoting his show with these outrageous claims.

Did you follow the trail or are you just going off your sources that seem to not hold up over time?

Robert, have you read the testimony in this case? I think the facts are pretty clear. And I think the trial records are the best source here.

or are you just going off your sources that seem to not hold up over time?

Is that really the way you want us to interact here? If I did that to you, would you be offended? Did you even ask what my sources are before dismissing them? This seems like exactly the kind of campaigning against forum participants that I think you say you want to discourage. Certainly more of a "you" statement than an "I" statement, though you avoided the word.

And FWIW, I think my sources have held up well over time.

[Bootstrap]

I think the difference between us is that you see political conspiracies everywhere. Where I do not.

There has been so many "political" conspiracies that have become fact the past 3+ years.

I think there's a lot of confirmation bias.

If you repeat them enough, loudly enough, they sure start to seem true.

Which is why evidence matters.

[silentreader]

Sometimes conspiracy theories drive a lot of hatred and violence. Look at the KKK. Look at Hitler. Look at Communist Soviet propaganda. Alex Jones deliberately spread lies against these parents. He knew they were lies. He knew that the parents were suffering consequences because they told him so, and their lawyers told him so. He kept doing that. He kept making money and kept promoting his show with these outrageous claims.

Did you follow the trail or are you just going off your sources that seem to not hold up over time?

[barnhart]

I didn't follow the trial closely but as I recall the defense did not heavily dispute the facts of the abuse and harassment. They claimed mental illness.

[Ken]

I didn't follow the trial closely but as I recall the defense did not heavily dispute the facts of the abuse and harassment. They claimed mental illness.

Which might be a defense in a criminal trial but this wasn't a criminal trial. The question in front of the jury wasn't whether or not he was guilty or innocent of some crime. It was whether or not he defamed the plaintiffs. And if so, whether he caused them damage.

[Bootstrap]

Lesson is: Don't say things like the following and make money off of it if you want to keep your assets.

“Why did Hitler blow up the Reichstag — to get control! Why do governments stage these things — to get our guns! Why can’t people get that through their head?”

Alex Jones said that the Sandy Hook parents were faking it, part of a government plot to take people's guns away. He convinced a lot of people that was true.

The consequences for the parents were predictable and obvious. Alex Jones knew that. He knew that his claims were false. The parents and their lawyer contacted him and asked him to stop. He continued ...

[Bootstrap]

Which might be a defense in a criminal trial but this wasn't a criminal trial. The question in front of the jury wasn't whether or not he was guilty or innocent of some crime. It was whether or not he defamed the plaintiffs. And if so, whether he caused them damage.

I think he did defame the parents. The jury agreed. And the parents' lives were badly messed up as a result. The jury agreed.

I mean, saying that someone is part of a government plot to take our guns away from us ... loudly ... repeatedly ... with a very big megaphone.

[RZehr]

On this other thread from two years ago about Alex Jones, this was my thought. viewtopic.php?f=24&t=5040

I can't say that I pity him. Because as much as I appreciate freedom of speech in this country, and as much as I suppose that eventually verdicts of this punitive nature will be turned towards Christians - This specific case I view primarily as a liar reaping what he has sown.

Still pretty much what I think about his judgment.