

The staggering sum pushed Jones into bankruptcy, even while he announced plans to appeal and took steps to shield his assets.
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Both Mark and Jackie Barden testified in the Connecticut trial against the right-wing radio host. The size and scope of the settlement could become a roadmap for litigation after mass shootings.Īnd, most recently, in a pair of blistering defamation cases that played out in Texas and Connecticut, families were awarded nearly $1.5 billion against notorious conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who made repeated claims that the shooting was an elaborate hoax. In February, Sandy Hook families secured an unprecedented $73 million court settlement with Remington, the manufacturer of the Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle used in the Newtown massacre, after arguing the company engaged in dangerous marketing practices that targeted younger, at-risk males. Navigating partisan gridlock in Washington, they’ve helped write into law new firearm restrictions and funding for campus security.

While mass shootings are more common today than ever, the founders of Sandy Hook Promise and other advocacy efforts that grew out of the Newtown shooting have become a formidable force in the politics of school safety and guns in America. Sandy Hook Promise promotes gun control measures, and trains children and school staff to recognize the early signs that someone could be considering violence. The effort quickly grew into the nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise, an advocacy and lobbying group that he launched with fellow Newtown parent Nicole Hockley. With Newtown in the national spotlight, he partnered with other bereft parents who questioned how such a heinous crime could unfold in their sleepy suburban town and how they could stop other children from being gunned down in their classrooms.
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“At the very least, we wanted to make folks aware of what had happened and to see if we could learn more about how to prevent it from happening,” he said.īarden, who wasn’t politically engaged before the shooting, filled the void with unrelenting advocacy. But at first, he didn’t know how to translate that feeling into action.
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For Mark, a professional guitarist, performing with his three children was “one of the greatest joys I’ve ever had in my life.” But after Daniel’s death, Barden told The 74, he “couldn’t even think about getting near music for a long time.”īarden felt like a man on a mission. The shooting changed the tempo in the Barden household forever. Ten years later, the Bardens are at the forefront of a new political force in America: a group of parents who have experienced unimaginable loss, and who are channeling their pain into pursuing legislative changes and promoting preventative measures within schools. 14, 2012, Daniel was among the 20 children and six adults killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the deadliest K-12 school shooting in U.S. Less than three months later, the Barden family’s world turned from wonderful to horrific. “And I think to myself,” Daniel’s sister, 10-year-old Natalie, sang into the microphone alongside her father Mark on guitar and 12-year-old brother James on bass, “what a wonderful world.”

The quartet’s intimate performance brought life to the Best Western hotel in Monticello, New York, where Mark and Jackie Barden had gathered with their children to celebrate a joyous milestone: Daniel’s maternal grandfather was turning 90. With an infectious smile, 7-year-old Daniel Barden softly tapped the drums, his steady beat holding together the fledgling family band. This article was published in partnership with The Trace.
