Alex Jones shamelessly asked people to donate cryptocurrency to Infowars as he took the stand and testified in a Sandy Hook defamation trial.
Jones even took the time to give the web address for donating cryptocurrency to his right-wing media company as a lawyer for the victims’ families pressed him on ways he has monetised claims the school massacre was a hoax.
The conspiracy theorist told the court that his audience had already donated $9m worth of cryptocurrency, which had gone directly into his personal wallet. But he insists that he had transferred all but $60,000 to his media company, Free Speech Systems.
“Technically it went into my bank account and it then went into Free Speech Systems,” he said.
Jones claimed that his viewers knew that they had given crypto directly to him and that it was meant for his company.
“We’re fighting the deep state, we need money,” Jones said on the stand.
Jones was then asked about other products he sold to his audience, including a silver “1776” collectible coin. He told the court that the coin cost him $35, but that the full price he charged was $130, and that it was currently available on sale for $99.
Jones insisted that he was honest with his audience about the deal. “Conservatives are smart. They know all about silver and gold,” he told the court.
When asked about the markup he makes on other products, he added: “My audience is smart, they work for a living.”
This marks the second defamation trial from a lawsuit that Mr Jones lost with Sandy Hook victims’ families.
In a Texas trial last month, Mr Jones admitted that he knew the 2012 massacre was real – and not a “hoax” as he had previously claimed it was.
In that case, he was ordered to pay $4.11m in compensatory damages and $45.2m in punitive damages to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of six-year-old victim Jesse Lewis.
Now, jurors in Connecticut will decide how much Mr Jones must pay those families in damages.
