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Sunday 18 June 2017

Sandy Hook Parents Send Letter To NBC Asking Them Not To Air Alex Jones Interview With Megyn Kelly

Several families whose children were killed in the Sandy Hook massacre have asked that NBC not air Megyn Kelly’s upcoming interview with conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones. Jones, the creator of InfoWars.com, claims the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, and that the family members shown crying for their children were actors.

For a greater perspective, Jones also believes the American government was in on 9/11, that the Oklahoma City and Boston Bombings were false flag operations, that Obama is the “global head of Al-Qaeda,” and that the government is using chemicals to “encourag[e] homosexuality" in children.
The letter, sent from the office of Koskoff, Koskoff, and Bieder, states in part:
Airing Ms. Kelly’s interview implicitly endorses that Mr. Jones’ lies are actually "claims" that are worthy of serious debate; and in doing so, it exponentially enhances the suffering and distress of our clients. For that NBC is responsible.
We urge you to consider the ethical and legal ramifications of broadcasting this interview to millions of Americans.
The letter goes into detail about the suffering of the parents of the Sandy Hook victims, then adds:
Which is why we cannot fathom — from a moral, ethical or legal standpoint — NBC’s decision to amplify the voice of a man who has made a living debasing that suffering and smearing our clients’ names.
Over the last few years, Alex Jones has weaponized his radio show to publish false and defamatory statements about our clients: chief among them that they are actors perpetrating a massive fraud on the American public by faking the deaths of their loved ones. ...
This decision may be driven by the simple urge to gain an edge in a well-publicized ratings war; but it has devastating human consequences as well.
Without having experienced something similar, it’s impossible to imagine the excruciating pain felt on a daily basis by the parents of the Sandy Hook massacre. With as much deference as can be given to the grieving families, I would argue that Megyn Kelly’s interview with Alex Jones is actually a very important one.
Jones, as recently noted by Daily Wire editor-in-chief, Ben Shapiro, has the ear of President Trump. The conspiracy theorist had Trump on his InfoWars show in December 2015, and he claims to have spoken with the president on the phone multiple times. When the Trump campaign sent an email to supporters after the United States pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, they cited an InfoWars article. All of this is noted by Shapiro here.
This man — an individual whose website gets notable traffic, and who promotes heinous conspiracy theories — has, in a seemingly significant way, made an impact on our president. Equally, if not more notable, InfoWars is a mecca for the Alt-Right, an ethno-nationalist movement that has gained significant steam over the last year. In short, Alex Jones is not simply a fringe figure, but a growing presence in the American political landscape.
Over the last 30 days, Alex Jones’ InfoWars website has attracted 3.8 million unique hits, according to Quantcast, and his main YouTube channel has over two million subscribers, and boasts 1.3 billion video views.
By bringing Jones into the light, Megyn Kelly can reveal to a mainstream audience the creature that has been quietly developing in the darkness. Like an underground fungus that spans miles, but can only be seen above the soil in the form of a single mushroom, Alex Jones has spread his poison underneath the surface of American political landscape for years.
Alex Jones has made morally repugnant accusations relating to the Sandy Hook shooting that should be exposed and burned by the light of a mainstream audience, and an adept interrogator like Megyn Kelly.
As Shapiro previously reported:
Kelly isn’t doing anything wrong by grilling him. In fact, in the video segment already released to the public, Kelly takes Jones to task. “When you say parents faked their children’s death, people get very angry,” Kelly asks Jones. Jones then replies with something about the number of Iraqi war dead. Kelly says, “That’s a dodge. …T hat doesn’t excuse what you did and said about Newtown.”
There is no doubt that to the mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters of the Sandy Hook victims, Jones’ presence on broadcast television will trigger a rush of anguish. The question is, does the benefit of having this disgusting man’s toxic ideas publicly dissected and razed before an audience of millions justify the pain that will necessarily be caused by pulling the man himself into the spotlight? I must argue that it does.
One cannot fight what is unseen. The odorless toxicity of the Alex Jones culture will continue to spread if it remains hidden away and unchallenged. However, if directly exposed to reason and truth, it must fight for legitimacy. In such a fight, it will lose. The creature living just beneath the soil is only strong because it hides from the sun.
No more.

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