WESTPORT — In October, almost ten years after the Sandy Hook school shooting, eight families of the victims and one FBI agent received $965 million in a defamation case against Alex Jonesone of the largest damages awards in history — and a lawyer from Westport played a key part in it.
On Jan. 19, the Y’s Men of Westport hosted a talk with Attorney Josh Koskoff, a longtime Westporter and Staples grad, who represented the families in this trial, as well as a case against Remingtonthe manufacturer of the gun used in shooting.
Koskoff opened with a quote from the Bible, where God casts Satan from heaven: “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.”
“And merchandise is what Alex Emerick Jones is all about,” Koskoff said.
For years, Jones used social media platforms, his own website, InfoWars, and his radio show, “The Alex Jones Show,” to spread misinformation about the shooting that killed 20 students and six educators. Some instances include calling the shooting a “hoax” that was staged by “crisis actors.”
He listed examples of merchandise Jones has promoted, including supplements and iodine, which helped fund his programs.
“Jones takes from the playbook from other figures, notably cult leaders, terrorists and autocrats,” Koskoff said. “His major message is that the world is filled with global and corporate elites and media elites that are coming to enslave you, take away your guns and depopulate you.”
Koskoff said that they had to convince the jury that there were people who believed Jones’ rhetoric.
“The truth is, you have