Information Warfare

Jones, who smiled as the judge dismissed the company’s case, called in to Infowars after the court hearing and predicted more battles in the state courts. “The bizarre political attempts to hijack the operation have failed,” he said, and added that he would find another way to broadcast his shows if he loses Infowars…

Chris Mattei, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families, called Infowars “soon-to-be defunct” as his clients move to collect on the debt in state courts. He said the families will also pursue Jones’ future earnings.

“Today is a good day,” Mattei said in a text message after the hearing. “Alex Jones has lost ownership of Infowars, the corrupt business he has used for years to attack the Connecticut families and so many others. … Alex Jones is neither a martyr nor a victim. He is the perpetrator of the worst defamation in American history.”…

Much more at the link. The Newtown families are still a long way from seeing justice, and Jones himself will continue to broadcast lies and conspirarcy theories as long as he has access to so much as a prison library laptop, but at least he’s feeling some tiny portion of the stress he’s inflicted for so many years.

Who is Alex Jones? The conspiracist and dietary supplement salesman built an empire over decades https://t.co/0DAnEskAlO

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 14, 2024

Because this is America…

Demolition of the Parkland classroom building where 17 died in 2018 shooting is set to begin https://t.co/r9TilYHSIN

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 14, 2024

… The victims’ families were invited to hammer off a piece of the building before the demolition began. Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter Alyssa died, was one who did, finding it cathartic.

“Hammering away at the building helped to release some of my pain,” said Alhadeff, who was elected to the Broward County school board after her daughter’s death on a pledge to improve campus safety. She is now its chair.

Officials plan to complete the demolition and cleanup before the school’s 3,300 students return in August from summer vacation — to protect the school’s other buildings, it wasn’t imploded. Most of the school’s current students were in elementary school when the shooting happened.

Since the shooting, the building has loomed over campus, locked behind a screened fence that blocked the bottom floor. It was kept up to serve as evidence at the shooter’s 2022 penalty trial. Jurors toured its bullet-pocked and blood-stained halls, but spared him a death sentence. He is serving a sentence of life without parole.

Over the last year, some victims’ relatives have led Vice President Kamala Harris, members of Congress, FBI Director Christopher Wray, school officials, police officers and other invitees from around the country on tours of the building. They mostly demonstrated how improved safety measures like bullet-resistant glass in door windows, a better alarm system and doors that lock from the inside could have saved lives…

Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex died, said Friday that he knows the tours he helped organize will save lives as officials take what they learned and use it to harden schools in their jurisdictions.

“You have to prioritize school safety because you can’t teach dead children,” he said…