Judge denies Alex Jones effort to dismiss Sandy Hook lawsuit

FILE - In this April 19, 2017, file photo, Alex Jones, a right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist, arrives at the courthouse in Austin, Texas. A judge has denied conspiracy theorist Jones' request Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018, to dismiss a lawsuit surrounding the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre that he has called a hoax. The Infowars host is being sued for defamation in Texas by the parents of a 6-year-old who was among the 20 children and six adults killed in the Newtown, Conn., attack. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A judge has denied conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' request to dismiss a lawsuit surrounding the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre that he has called a hoax.

The Infowars host is being sued for defamation in Texas by the parents of a 6-year-old who was among the 20 children and six adults killed in the Newtown, Connecticut, attack. State District Judge Scott Jenkins on Wednesday ruled the case can proceed.

Jenkins also refused to dismiss a similar lawsuit brought by a man who was falsely identified on the Infowars website as the gunman who killed 17 people at a Florida high school in February.

Jones has since admitted that the Sandy Hook killings occurred. His attorneys defended his speech in court as "rhetorical hyperbole," but denied it was defamation.