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Alex Jones

08/07/2022

Alex Jones, host of the far-right conspiracy theory website Infowars, was sued for defamation by parents of one of the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre. Jones claimed that the parents lied about the shooting, which he said was “completely fake with actors.” A jury ordered Jones to pay $4.1 million in compensatory damages and $45.2 million in punitive damages. During the trial, what Jewish reference did Alex Jones’s lawyer, Andino Reynal, make when offering his closing arguments to the jury?

A. Reynal claimed that Alex Jones and his message should be welcomed by all, as he was simply exercising his American freedom of speech rights. Reynal then quoted The New Colossus, by Jewish poet Emma Lazarus which is engraved on the Statue of Liberty, saying “ ‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ Mr. Jones, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is just yearning to breathe free, as we all are.”

B. Reynal said that Alex Jones is like all Americans, and should not be held to a different standard, even if he said things that are not always popular. Quoting from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Reynal said, “ ‘I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is?’ Alex Jones is no different than that Jew, and no different than any of us. He has hands, organs, and opinions that are sometimes incorrect.”

C. Reynal told the jury, “There is no justification for what the plaintiffs have put my client through. He has been wronged in all of the claims against him. And yet, whatever you the jury may decide, Mr. Jones will remain true to himself and his beliefs, just like Ann Frank, who notably said, ‘It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.’ ” 

D. Reynal asked, “Do you want to choose what you get to watch and listen to or do you want a plaintiff’s attorney to decide for you?” He then quoted Martin Niemöller’s Holocaust poem First They Came – “First they came for the communists, and I said ‘I’m not a communist’ and didn’t do anything. Then they came for the trade unionists and I said ‘I’m not a trade unionist.’ Then they came for the Jews, and I said, ‘I’m not a Jew.’ And when they came for me, there was no one left.” Reynal’s message apparently was that we should all stand up for Alex Jones so that we do not become the next victims, like the Jews and others during the Holocaust.

E. Reynal noted that ordering his client to pay millions of dollars in fines wouldn’t make any sense. Said Reynal, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, as you know, God made many many poor people, and my client is one of them. Now, Mr. Jones realizes, of course, that it’s no shame to be poor, But it’s no great honor either! So, what would have been so terrible if he had a small fortune?” At which point, Alex Jones jumped up, began wiggling his belly, and sang “If I were a rich man, Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum, All day long I’d biddy biddy bum, If I were a wealthy man.” Mr. Reynal then closed his arguments, saying, “And since he is not a wealthy man, I implore you to dismiss this case so that my client can get back to the synagogue and pray.”

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