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| Sandy Hook Families Criticize Megyn Kelly for Planned Alex Jones Interview | Sandy Hook Families Criticize Megyn Kelly for Planned Alex Jones Interview |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| Families of some of the 26 people who were killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre have criticized an upcoming NBC interview with Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist who has said the shooting was a hoax perpetrated by forces hostile to the Second Amendment. | Families of some of the 26 people who were killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre have criticized an upcoming NBC interview with Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist who has said the shooting was a hoax perpetrated by forces hostile to the Second Amendment. |
| As the host of “The Alex Jones Show” and the operator of the right-wing website Infowars, Mr. Jones has a wide following. He has called the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City an inside job, promoted and then later apologized for helping spread the hoax known as “Pizzagate,” and asserted that an Idaho yogurt factory owned by a Kurdish immigrant was associated with a sexual assault before retracting that claim amid a lawsuit. | As the host of “The Alex Jones Show” and the operator of the right-wing website Infowars, Mr. Jones has a wide following. He has called the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City an inside job, promoted and then later apologized for helping spread the hoax known as “Pizzagate,” and asserted that an Idaho yogurt factory owned by a Kurdish immigrant was associated with a sexual assault before retracting that claim amid a lawsuit. |
| Now, Mr. Jones will have a new platform. | Now, Mr. Jones will have a new platform. |
| Megyn Kelly, who left Fox News earlier this year to anchor a new weekly show for NBC, “Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly,” said on Sunday that she would air an interview with Mr. Jones on June 18 “to discuss controversies and conspiracies.” | Megyn Kelly, who left Fox News earlier this year to anchor a new weekly show for NBC, “Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly,” said on Sunday that she would air an interview with Mr. Jones on June 18 “to discuss controversies and conspiracies.” |
| The announcement that Mr. Jones would be shown taking a seat across from Ms. Kelly has resulted in a backlash against the network and the host by some of the victims’ families, who have endured harassment and threats by conspiracy theorists for years. | The announcement that Mr. Jones would be shown taking a seat across from Ms. Kelly has resulted in a backlash against the network and the host by some of the victims’ families, who have endured harassment and threats by conspiracy theorists for years. |
| It prompted Sandy Hook Promise, a gun violence prevention organization, to announce on Monday that Ms. Kelly would no longer host its Promise Champions Gala on Wednesday. | |
| The group said in a statement the decision stemmed from NBC’s planned broadcast of her interview with Mr. Jones. | |
| “Sandy Hook Promise cannot support the decision by Megyn or NBC to give any form of voice or platform to Alex Jones and have asked Megyn Kelly to step down as our Promise Champion Gala host,” Nicole Hockley, a founder and managing director of the group, said in the statement. “It is our hope that Megyn and NBC reconsider and not broadcast this interview.” | |
| The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that JPMorgan Chase & Company pulled its local television and digital ads from all NBC News programming until after the interview airs. A spokesman for JPMorgan Chase declined to comment on Tuesday. | |
| Kristin Lemkau, the company’s chief marketing officer, said in a tweet on Monday that she was “repulsed” that Ms. Kelly would “give a second of airtime to someone who says Sandy Hook and Aurora are hoaxes.” | |
| Nelba Márquez-Greene, whose daughter Ana Grace Márquez-Greene, was killed, tweeted several photos of her daughter at Ms. Kelly. | Nelba Márquez-Greene, whose daughter Ana Grace Márquez-Greene, was killed, tweeted several photos of her daughter at Ms. Kelly. |
| “Shame on you,” wrote Cristina Hassinger, the daughter of Dawn Hochsprung, who was the school’s principal. | “Shame on you,” wrote Cristina Hassinger, the daughter of Dawn Hochsprung, who was the school’s principal. |
| Ms. Kelly said on Twitter that the point of the interview was to “shed a light” on Mr. Jones, especially because President Trump had been a guest on Mr. Jones’s show. When Mr. Trump, then a Republican presidential candidate, appeared on the show in 2015, he told Mr. Jones: “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down. You will be very, very impressed, I hope. And I think we’ll be speaking a lot.” | Ms. Kelly said on Twitter that the point of the interview was to “shed a light” on Mr. Jones, especially because President Trump had been a guest on Mr. Jones’s show. When Mr. Trump, then a Republican presidential candidate, appeared on the show in 2015, he told Mr. Jones: “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down. You will be very, very impressed, I hope. And I think we’ll be speaking a lot.” |
| Ms. Kelly, also noting that Infowars had been given a White House press credential, said many people may be unfamiliar with Mr. Jones. | Ms. Kelly, also noting that Infowars had been given a White House press credential, said many people may be unfamiliar with Mr. Jones. |
| She posted a preview of the interview on her Twitter account. In it, she asked Mr. Jones: “They call you the most paranoid man in America. Is that true?” Ms. Kelly said. | She posted a preview of the interview on her Twitter account. In it, she asked Mr. Jones: “They call you the most paranoid man in America. Is that true?” Ms. Kelly said. |
| “Absolutely not,” said Mr. Jones. “A paranoid person would be hiding out in their house, not venturing out in public. I go out there on the street and battle Black Lives Matter, the Communists, point-blank range.” | “Absolutely not,” said Mr. Jones. “A paranoid person would be hiding out in their house, not venturing out in public. I go out there on the street and battle Black Lives Matter, the Communists, point-blank range.” |
| She then gives cues to Mr. Jones, prompting him to repeat some of the most prominent conspiracy theories he has touted. | She then gives cues to Mr. Jones, prompting him to repeat some of the most prominent conspiracy theories he has touted. |
| “9/11,” Ms. Kelly says. | “9/11,” Ms. Kelly says. |
| “Now 9/11 was an inside job, but when I say inside job it means criminal elements in our government working with Saudi Arabia and others, wanting to frame Iraq for it,” Mr. Jones replies. | “Now 9/11 was an inside job, but when I say inside job it means criminal elements in our government working with Saudi Arabia and others, wanting to frame Iraq for it,” Mr. Jones replies. |
| “Sandy Hook,” she says. | “Sandy Hook,” she says. |
| “Well Sandy Hook’s complex because I have had debates where, we devil’s advocates have said the whole story is true, and then I have had debates where I have said, that none of it is true.” | “Well Sandy Hook’s complex because I have had debates where, we devil’s advocates have said the whole story is true, and then I have had debates where I have said, that none of it is true.” |
| Ms. Kelly then asked him: “When you say parents faked their children’s death, people get very angry.” | Ms. Kelly then asked him: “When you say parents faked their children’s death, people get very angry.” |
| “Well I know, but they don’t get angry about the half million dead Iraqis from the sanctions, or they don’t get angry about … ” Mr. Jones said, before he is interrupted by Ms. Kelly, who says, “That’s a dodge.” | “Well I know, but they don’t get angry about the half million dead Iraqis from the sanctions, or they don’t get angry about … ” Mr. Jones said, before he is interrupted by Ms. Kelly, who says, “That’s a dodge.” |
| “No it’s not a dodge,” he continued. He said he “looked at all the angles of Newtown, and I made my statements long before the media even picked up on it. We didn’t get any of the real important stuff.” | “No it’s not a dodge,” he continued. He said he “looked at all the angles of Newtown, and I made my statements long before the media even picked up on it. We didn’t get any of the real important stuff.” |
| “Well here’s the big one they always make fun of me. You probably want to throw this in there. Thirty years ago, they began creating animal-human hybrids. Isn’t that the big story Megyn Kelly should be doing?” Mr. Jones said. | “Well here’s the big one they always make fun of me. You probably want to throw this in there. Thirty years ago, they began creating animal-human hybrids. Isn’t that the big story Megyn Kelly should be doing?” Mr. Jones said. |
| A spokesman for NBC did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. | A spokesman for NBC did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. |
| In a segment on Infowars on Monday, Mr. Jones called on NBC to not broadcast the interview. | In a segment on Infowars on Monday, Mr. Jones called on NBC to not broadcast the interview. |
| “They did not have me in there saying that I believed children died at Sandy Hook,” Mr. Jones said about the preview, claiming that he was misled by Ms. Kelly and that it was edited to misrepresent him. | “They did not have me in there saying that I believed children died at Sandy Hook,” Mr. Jones said about the preview, claiming that he was misled by Ms. Kelly and that it was edited to misrepresent him. |
| Six educators and 20 first-grade students were shot dead by Adam Lanza on Dec. 14, 2012, at the Newtown, Conn., elementary school. Mr. Lanza, 20, who had also killed his mother earlier that morning, then turned the gun on himself. | Six educators and 20 first-grade students were shot dead by Adam Lanza on Dec. 14, 2012, at the Newtown, Conn., elementary school. Mr. Lanza, 20, who had also killed his mother earlier that morning, then turned the gun on himself. |
| Parents of the Newtown victims have been harassed and threatened by conspiracy theorists, who accuse them of fabricating the massacre. This month, a Florida woman was sentenced to prison for issuing death threats to one Newtown family. | Parents of the Newtown victims have been harassed and threatened by conspiracy theorists, who accuse them of fabricating the massacre. This month, a Florida woman was sentenced to prison for issuing death threats to one Newtown family. |
| Ms. Hassinger, who said in a telephone interview that she would not watch the program, said her family has been bombarded with requests for evidence that her mother was killed. | Ms. Hassinger, who said in a telephone interview that she would not watch the program, said her family has been bombarded with requests for evidence that her mother was killed. |
| “We have been harassed repeatedly by people who we call hoaxers that think this hasn’t happened. When there is going to be such a widely available interview with attention given to one of the hoaxer ringleaders, it is going to unleash the trolls on us tenfold all over again.” | “We have been harassed repeatedly by people who we call hoaxers that think this hasn’t happened. When there is going to be such a widely available interview with attention given to one of the hoaxer ringleaders, it is going to unleash the trolls on us tenfold all over again.” |