Scarlett Lewis, the Mom Holding Alex Jones to Account

Scarlett Lewis’s 6-year-old son, Jesse, was among the 20 first graders and six adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. In the aftermath, Alex Jones used his radio show to spread conspiracy theories, calling the massacre a hoax and a false-flag operation meant to help the government expand gun control. For years his followers have embraced his lies, harassing and threatening the parents of the slain children, as well as an FBI agent who responded to the shooting.

In a courtroom in Austin, where Jones and Infowars are based, Lewis addressed him from the witness stand in moving testimony. “Truth is so vital to our world,” she said. “Truth is what we base our reality on, and we have to agree on that to have a civil society.” On the stand, Jones admitted the massacre was “100% real,” conceding that it was irresponsible of him to contend that the parents were actors. A jury in a separate defamation trial in Connecticut awarded multiple plaintiffs $965 million in compensatory damages in October—Jones, unrepentant this time, livestreamed the verdict on his Infowars show—and a judge ordered Jones to pay $472 million in punitive damages in November. It’s unclear how much money Lewis or anyone else will see (Jones recently filed for bankruptcy), but the Texas verdict was the first time Jones had been held financially liable for his lies, and it could deter other fabulists from making similar claims.