Infowars founder Alex Jones has moved to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by the families of victims in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, arguing he was acting as a journalist like Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, according to The Associated Press.
The right-wing radio host, in written arguments filed last week, admitted he had called the shooting of 26 people in Connecticut a hoax, but said he now believes it happened, the AP reported.
“Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein relied on allegations from ‘Deep Throat’ to link the Nixon Administration to the Watergate break-in,” Jones’ lawyers wrote in filing for a dismissal on Friday, according to the news agency.
“Such journalism, questioning official narratives, would be chilled if reporters were subject to liability if they turned out to be wrong.”
{mosads} Woodward and Bernstein were The Washington Post reporters who broke open the Watergate scandal.
Jones has previously claimed that the Sandy Hook massacre, which resulted in 20 children and six adults being killed, was a hoax, and that the families being interviewed in the media were “crisis actors.”
His lawyer’s move to dismiss the defamation lawsuit comes after multiple families filed a suit against Jones in state Superior Court earlier this year. The families alleged that Jones’ questioning of the shooting led to harassment and death threats by his followers.
“The First Amendment simply does not protect false statements about the parents of one of the worst tragedies in our nation’s history,” Bill Bloss, an attorney who represents the families, told the AP. “Any effort by any of the defendants to avoid responsibility for the harm that they have inflicted will be unsuccessful.”
The lawsuit is seeking monetary and punitive damages, attorney fees and other costs, according to AP.
In addition to the one filed in Connecticut, Jones currently faces two lawsuits in Texas. Those lawsuits, filed by the parents of two children killed, accuse Jones of peddling lies that have caused death threats.
The suits are seeking more than $1 million in damages from Jones, InfoWars and Free Speech Systems LLC.
A hearing for the first of the Texas lawsuits is scheduled to take place on Aug. 1, according to The New York Times.
Jones has repeatedly produced conspiracy theories related to the Sandy Hook shooting, which occurred on Dec. 14, 2012.
“I’ve watched a lot of soap operas, and I’ve seen actors before,” Jones said in 2016. “And I know when I’m watching a movie and when I’m watching something real.”