AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The detective who led the investigation into the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School attack testified Tuesday that there are three types of people who deny that it happened and harass the victims' families: the mentally ill, those who believed bad or incomplete information, and those who knew the truth but twisted it for their own “power or money.”

Investigators put conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in that final group.

“They were the most dangerous. That’s where we put Alex Jones,” Connecticut State Police Detective Daniel Jewiss told the jury on the first day of testimony in a Texas trial to determine how much Jones, who hosts Infowars, owes for defaming the parents of one of the children who died in the deadliest school shooting in American history.

“It’s absolutely horrific the amount of trauma they’ve had to endure in the wake of having lost a loved one,” said Jewiss, who called supporting the Sandy Hook families the “most honorable” thing he’s ever been part of.

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse was killed in the attack on the Newtown, Connecticut, school, are seeking $150 million for emotional distress and reputational damage that Jones caused them, and more money in punitive damages, their lawyer, Mark Bankston, told the court during his opening statement as Jones looked on, shaking his head at times.

Jones repeatedly “lied and attacked the parents of murdered children” when he told his Infowars audience that the shooting was a hoax, Bankston said. He created a “massive campaign of lies” and recruited “wild extremists from the fringes of the internet ... who were as cruel as Mr. Jones wanted them to be” to the families of the 20 first-graders and six educators who were killed, the lawyer said.

Jones tapped into the explosive popularity of Sandy Hook conspiracy stories that became an “obsession” for the website, even years after the shooting, said Bankston, who played video clips of Jones claiming on his program that the shooting was a hoax and “the whole thing was completely fake. ... It just didn’t happen.”

Anticipating that Jones' lawyers would argue that what Jones said about Sandy Hook was speech protected by the First Amendment — Jones arrived at the courthouse wearing tape over his mouth with the message “Save the 1st” printed on it — Bankston told the jury, “This has nothing to do with the Constitution. Defamation is not protected by freedom of speech. ... Speech is free, but lies you have to pay for.”

During the defense's opening remarks, Jones' lawyer Andino Reynal called Jones one of the “most polarizing figures in this nation," who made statements about Sandy Hook “that we don’t dispute were wrong.” But he said Jones has already been punished for those statements when he was kicked off of Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and Twitter for violating their hate speech policies.

Jones has “already been cancelled” and lost millions of dollars, said Reynal, who called on the jury to limit the damages to $1.

Reynal painted a picture of a talk show host who “tries to provide an alternative view” but who was duped by some of his guests.

“Alex Jones was wrong to believe these people, but he didn’t do it out of spite. He did it because he believed it. ... He believed a citizen has a right to get on Infowars and talk about what their questions are," Reynal said.

He also called the case an important one for free speech.

“I believe in his right to say it, and I believe in every American’s right to choose what they watch, and listen to, and believe," Reynal said.

Between the two sides' opening statements, Jones stepped outside of the courtroom to rant to reporters, calling it a “kangaroo court” and “show trial” that was an assault on the First Amendment. He didn't return to the courtroom for the afternoon start of testimony, which included Infowars producer Daria Karpova taking the stand.

Jones' media company designated Karpova to testify about Infowars' audience reach, and some of the video produced by the website after the Sandy Hook shooting. The trial took a break for the rest of the day before she finished planned testimony.

The jury could deal Jones a major financial blow that would put his constellation of conspiracy peddling businesses into deeper jeopardy. In addition to being banned from major social media platforms, he claims he's millions of dollars in debt — a claim the plaintiffs reject.

The Texas court and another in Connecticut found Jones liable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax involving actors aimed at increasing gun control. In both states, the judges issued default judgments against Jones without trials because he failed to respond to court orders and turn over documents.

In total, the families of eight Sandy Hook victims and an FBI agent who responded to the school are suing Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems.

Jones has since acknowledged that the shooting took place. During a deposition in April, Jones insisted he wasn’t responsible for the suffering that Sandy Hook parents say they have endured because of the hoax conspiracy, including death threats and harassment by Jones’ followers.

Jones claimed in court records last year that he had a negative net worth of $20 million, but attorneys for Sandy Hook families have painted a different financial picture.

Court records show that Jones’ Infowars store, which sells nutritional supplements and survival gear, made more than $165 million between 2015 and 2018. Jones has also urged listeners on his Infowars program to donate money.

The tribal began Monday in Austin, Texas — where Jones lives and broadcasts his show — following months of delays. It also comes about two months after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, which is about 145 miles (235 kilometers) southwest of Austin. It was the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook.

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — A new wave of anger swept through Uvalde on Tuesday over surveillance footage of police officers in body armor milling in the hallway of Robb Elementary School while a gunman carried out a massacre inside a fourth-grade classroom where 19 children and two teachers were killed.

The video published Tuesday by the Austin American-Statesman is a disturbing 80-minute recording of what has been known for weeks now about one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history: that heavily armed police officers, some armed with rifles and bulletproof shields, massed in the hallway and waited more than an hour before going inside and stopping the May 24 slayings.

But the footage, which until now had not surfaced publicly, anguished Uvalde residents anew and redoubled calls in the small South Texas city for accountability and explanations that have been incomplete — and sometimes inaccurate — in the seven weeks since the shooting. Hours after the video was published, some residents at a Uvalde City Council meeting said they had not been able to bring themselves to watch it.

Jesus Rizo said officers who are paid taxpayer dollars to protect people should not have “sat there” when children were in danger.

“You could've saved some lives. You could have held somebody's hand as they were dying,” he said. “The parents could have seen them one last time as they were dying.”

Others demanded consequences for police and more information in an investigation marked by confusing statements that have had to be retracted at times.

“Give these families some closure," said Daniel Myers, a pastor in Uvalde and family friend to one of the victims.

An investigative committee led by Texas lawmakers had earlier announced plans to show the video to Uvalde residents for the first time Sunday, in addition to sharing their findings after weeks of closed-door testimony from more than 40 witnesses.

"This has been the most unprofessional investigation or handling of it that I’ve ever seen in my life," Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said in an interview with The Associated Press. “These families get blindsided constantly."

The footage from a hallway camera inside the school shows the gunman entering the building with an AR-15 style rifle and includes 911 tape of a teacher screaming, “Get down! Get in your rooms! Get in your rooms!”

Two officers approach the classrooms minutes after the gunman enters, then run back amid the sounds of gunfire.

As the gunman first approaches the classrooms a child whose image is blurred can be seen poking their head around a corner down the hallway and then running back while shots ring out. Later, about 20 minutes before police breach the room, the video shows a man wearing a vest that says “sheriff” use a hand sanitizer dispenser mounted on the wall.

Throughout the video, the screams of children are redacted.

Officials said the 77 minutes of footage they are preparing to release this weekend does not contain images of children in the classroom. Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Republican who is leading the investigation, said after the video was posted by the Statesman that "watching the entire segment of law enforcement’s response, or lack thereof, is also important.”

But the video alone does not answer all the questions that remain — nearly two months later — about the law enforcement response. Among them are how schools police Chief Pete Arredondo came to the forefront of the massive law enforcement response involving numerous local, state and federal agencies.

State authorities have cast Arredondo as the on-scene commander and said his errors delayed police killing the gunman. Arredondo, however, has told the Texas Tribune he didn’t consider himself to be in charge of operations and that he assumed someone else had taken control of the law enforcement response. He did not have a police radio at the time.

The roles of the ranking on-scene officers from other agencies, including the Texas Department of Public Safety, remain unclear. McLaughlin has accused DPS of minimizing its involvement in the response and releasing inaccurate timelines.

Last week, a critique of the police response written by tactical experts and requested by DPS alleged that a Uvalde police officer had a chance to open fire on the gunman before he entered the school. McLaughlin has said that account was inaccurate.

“All they keep doing is piling missed facts on missed facts, and throwing it out there and see what sticks,” McLaughlin said.

In a statement, DPS Director Steve McCraw said the video provides “horrifying evidence" that the law enforcement response was a failure.

Weber reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press writers Jake Bleiberg in Dallas and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Youths ages 5-12 are invited to put on their detective hats and pull out their magnifying glasses to join “The Great Investigation” for God’s plan in their lives. Each evening will have a different theme as youths visit the “confidential café,” “evidence vault,” “investigation lab,” and other detective-themed spaces at the church.

Families can register for the Bible school by calling the church at 217-258-6519, emailing office.eastsidenaz@gmail.com or visiting https://vbspro.events/p/events/mattooneastsidenazarene.