TV Review: How the Sandy Hook families took on Alex Jones ...
Twenty-four per cent. The proportion of the U.S. population which believes the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012 was staged by the state in order to strengthen the case for gun control.
The other 76% of the American population believes the terrible truth – that a lone gunman walked into the school and shot dead 20 kids and six adults.
A large number of people believe the staged-massacre conspiracy theory thanks to Alex Jones, the owner and face of Infowars.com, a far-right media company with more viewers than CNN.
Jones was calling it a hoax within 48 hours of the massacre, zeroing in on Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie died that day.
A grief-stricken Parker laughed awkwardly before delivering a statement to the media shortly after losing his daughter.
Alex Jones said that was a sign Parker is a soap-opera actor and this is all for show.
The Truth vs. Alex Jones (Sky Documentaries and NOW) tells the story of how the parents fought back.
For a while, they just countered every wild allegation and forced platforms like YouTube to take down clips supporting Jones’ claims.
The claims kept coming, along with violent threats aimed at the parents from people who believed what Jones was pedalling. So the parents eventually decided to hit Jones where it hurt – in his pocket.
The business model at Infowars.com was to attract a big audience with daft theories, and then flog them vitamins and supplement with names like DNA Force Plus.
Not a bad business model even if DNA Force Plus sounds like it came from the same mind that invented a show-within-a-show on The Simpsons called Police Cops.
The parents sued Jones in two separate lawsuits in Texas and Connecticut, winning over a $1 billion in damages. This is almost incidental.
What’s amazing in The Truth vs. Alex Jones is how the parents maintained their dignity when they came face to face with Jones in court.
One mother even showed the value of decency when she offered Jones a glass of water as he struggled with a cough.
There is no great twist in this two hour documentary, or a single moment that sticks out from the rest. That’s because it’s all bonkers and surreal.
The parents are muted because they can’t believe some one would try and profit from the death of their little child.
The way they reflect on the final moments with their kids before sending them to school that fateful day, it would break your heart and make you wonder how anyone could raise a child in the U.S.
In the end, they won and returned to their broken hearts. Jones just kept on broadcasting.
