InfoWars’ Alex Jones Blames “Psychosis” For Spreading Sandy Hook Conspiracies [VIDEO DEPOSITION]

InfoWars host Alex Jones, who is being sued by several parents of Sandy Hook victims, said that he now believes the massacre was not a hoax, in a deposition released Friday.

In the video posted on YouTube, the notorious conspiracy theorist said he now believes 26 people were killed in the 2012 shooting, but that “a form of psychosis” caused him to think it was staged.

Here’s the first part of his deposition:

And the second part:

During the three-hour deposition, Jones said his “psychosis” was brought on by the stressful nature of his job but did not say if he had been diagnosed with the disorder.

“I, myself, have almost had like a form of psychosis back in the past where I basically thought everything was staged, even though I’m now learning a lot of times things aren’t staged,” Jones said. “So I think as a pundit, someone giving an opinion, that, you know, my opinions have been wrong, but they were never wrong consciously to hurt people.”

Jones also said that questioning public events is an “essential part of the First Amendment in America” and blamed the media for his actions. “Well, I’m just saying that the trauma of the media and the corporations lying so much, then everything begins — you don’t trust anything anymore, kind of like a child whose parents lie to them over and over again. Well, pretty soon they don’t know what reality is,” he continued.

The radio and podcast host is facing several lawsuits alleging that he repeatedly claimed the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut — which left 20 children and six adults dead — was “a giant hoax” and the victims involved were lying.

For years, he has suggested the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary was staged with paid “actors.” He has also claimed the children who died never actually existed.

Mark Bankston represents Sandy Hook parent Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis died in the massacre and is seeking damages for false accusations and targeted harassment.

According to his law firm’s website, “The complaint charges that the defendants took part in an ongoing campaign to mock Ms. Lewis and other parents of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, claiming the shooting was a ‘false flag’ conspiracy hoax and accusing them of a sinister conspiracy to lie about the circumstances of the tragedy.”

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This is just one of many defamation lawsuits against Jones by the families of Sandy Hook victims.

Other plaintiffs include Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, who say that as a result of Jones’s unconfirmed conspiracy theories, their family was harassed and forced to move. The pundit has previously implied that De La Rosa was paid to pretend she was grieving her 6-year-old son’s death.

Six other families of Sandy Hook victims filed suit against Jones in Connecticut in April.

In addition to the lawsuits, major tech companies have removed Jones from their platforms. Earlier this year, Jones’ accounts on a number of major social networks — including Spotify, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Apple, Facebook and Twitter — were terminated or suspended.

He is one of the first figures to be formally censored for spreading conspiracies, marking a potential change as to how platforms handle controversial figures who knowingly spread misinformation and fake news.

Over the past several decades, Jones has emerged as a notoriously inflammatory pundit with a considerable platform and following. At its height, his three-hour daily radio show was syndicated to more than 160 stations across the U.S. His website Infowars peddled conspiracies like the 9/11-hoax theory that the terror attacks in New York were orchestrated by the federal government.