Sandy Hook Father Accuses Alex Jones of Destroying Evidence

Alex Jones is being accused of destroying evidence helpful to the lawsuit against him, says the father of a child killed during the Sandy Hook massacre.

“Plaintiff moves for sanctions against Defendants for the willful destruction of relevant evidence,” read the motion filed by Neil Heslin in a Texas court on Friday. Heslin was the father of 6-year-old Jesse, who was one of 19 children and six adults killed when a gunman went on a rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012.

“These materials were unquestionably relevant to Plaintiff’s claim, and InfoWars had written notice of the obligation to preserve this evidence,” the motion continues. “InfoWars’ willful deletion of evidence merits punitive and remedial sanctions, including an adverse inference by the fact-finder regarding the content of the deleted materials.”

Also Read: Could Alex Jones' InfoWars Face Gawker's Fate With Multiple Defamation Lawsuits?

The motion contends that Jones “intentionally deleted” several social media pages and video content relating to the massacre, which the InfoWars host has repeatedly suggested did not happen, was “completely fake” and “manufactured.” The motion said the deletions came after CNN’s Oliver Darcy flagged the content in his own recent story about InfoWars Twitter footprint.

The news was first reported by the New York Times. Jones did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap.

Jones’ digital brand faces oblivion after Apple, Facebook. YouTube all banned him from their platforms (and deleted thousands of pieces of content between them). Twitter declined to ban Jones, but tightened the screws considerably over what he can post. He is currently in a time out (to use Twitter chief Jack Dorsey’s words) for a week after posting content violating the company’s terms of service.

Also Read: Alex Jones Sued by Sandy Hook Parents in Defamation Suits

The defamation suit from Heslin is one of several lawsuits currently underway against Jones and InfoWars from Sandy Hook families and others who say he has attacked or spread false information about over the years.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

Mike Cernovich, a Timeline: From Choking Advice to Pizzagate to Firings (Photos)

Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.
Advice on Choking Women

Before gaining fame as a Trump superfan, Cernovich got his start in the men's rights and pick-up artist community. His advice column, published on his blog "Danger and Play," included suggestions on the proper way to "choke" women during sex. This entry from December 2011 has since been deleted: "Choking works because it’s a show of dominance. Women only want to have consensual sex with men they know could rape them."
Pizzagate

Cernovich first came to wide public attention over his promotion of a conspiracy theory during the 2016 election that suggested that a pedophile ring was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. The story was bunk, and Cernovich has moved to distance himself from Pizzagate.
Will Sommer/Twitter
John Conyers

Cernovich's biggest score of all probably wasn't James Gunn, but John Conyers. A tip provided by Cernovich to BuzzFeed about accusations of sexual misconduct forced the Democrat to resign his seat in disgrace in December 2017.
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Sam Seder

Mike Cernovich targeted the MSNBC contributor over a years-old joke about his daughter being raped. MSNBC dropped Seder in December 2017, but reinstated him after a public backlash.
MSNBC
Sopan Deb

Cernovich went after New York Times reporter Sopan Deb in March 2017 over a tweeted pun about the rapper Bow Wow. The incident earned Deb an official rebuke from the Times' then-public editor, Liz Spayd.
Josh Barro

In November 2017, Cernovich demanded an apology from Josh Barro after the Business Insider Senior Editor made fun of his lisp. Barro swiftly retreated.
Twitter
Perry Fein

In June 2018, Los Angeles Times freelancer Perry Fein slipped into Cernovich's DMs and wished harm upon him. His relationship with the newspaper was over just hours later.
Los Angeles Times Media Group
James Gunn

Last week, Cernovich helped lead an online campaign highlighting old tweets in which Gunn joked about rape about pedophilia. Gunn offered an apology, but was dropped by Disney from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise.
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Cheri Jacobus

Before the James Gunn situation, Cernovich also led a brief and successful campaign to pressure USA Today to drop columnist Cheri Jacobus. The decision from the paper came after Jacobus' bizarre comments about convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Michael Ian Black

Cernovich has trained his fire on comedian Michael Ian Black, who has said several times on Twitter that his tweets about pedophilia were only jokes.
YouTube
Dan Harmon

Fresh off his victory in ousting Gunn from "Guardians of the Galaxy," Cernovich forced "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon and his employers at Adult Swim to apologize over an old sketch that featured Harmon graphically simulating the rape of a baby. (The sketch used a doll, not an actual baby.)
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The right-wing provocateur has become a thorn to liberals online

Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.

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