HARTFORD, Conn. — The parents of one of the first graders murdered in the Sandy Hook school shootings described Tuesday how nearly a decade of harassment by followers of right wing broadcaster Alex Jones has shattered their sense of security and left them looking warily over their shoulders at strangers.
The parents testified Tuesday during the ninth day of Jones’ defamation suit in Superior Court in Waterbury. Fourteen relatives of shooting victims and an FBI agent who was part of the law enforcement response are suing Jones, claiming they have experienced years of threats and abuse directly attributable to his broadcasts that said the mass shooting was a hoax, that it was staged by so-called crisis actors and it was part of a conspiracy to broaden support for gun control laws.
Ian and Nicole Hockley, who divorced when their marriage of two decades fell apart after their son Dylan’s murder, testified that the stalking and harassment began with Jones’ first hoax broadcasts immediately after the Dec. 14, 2012, shootings and continued through the eve of the trial earlier this month.
