Third Update: A judge in Connecticut honored the families on Thursday Sandy Hook Another $473 million to victims in punitive damages to be paid by InforWars founder alex jones, It comes as a jury held Jones liable for spreading lies about the 2012 school massacre that killed 26 people, including 20 children, after finding that the jury had awarded compensatory damages to families. Awarded $965 million.
Jones has faced different defamationCivil suit, slander and emotional distress. Earlier this year, a jury in Texas awarded a total of $49.3 million to the family of victim Jesse Lewis, finding that Jones claims Sandy Hook was a “false flag” operation that caused death to the family. faced threats and harassment.
Second update, October 12 PM: Parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims shed tears today as a jury in Waterbury, CT awarded multimillion-dollar damages for defamation, slander and emotional distress. Infowars Founder Alex Jones, who has claimed the massacre, was a hoax.
The dollar amount — which closed in at $1 billion in total — was different for each plaintiff and also included attorneys’ fees and other compensatory damages. Jones opted to appear in court today.
The jury’s determination of damages was only the latest against Jones, whose online shows and media company regularly traffic in conspiracy theories, yet have attracted substantial audiences.
Family members have described facing death threats and mutilating the graves of their children, inspired by Jones’ dispute that the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting massacre, which killed 26 people, including 20 children , was a “false flag” operation.
The amount of damages was far greater than what was determined by a Texas jury in August, which slapped Jones $45.2 million in punitive damages. Given the state’s limits on punitive damages, the latest $965 million damages figure may be understated, but it is an indication of the seriousness that the jury felt on Jones’ actions and the impact it had on the bereaved families.
According to NBC News’ Ben Collins, Jones was on his show at the time the verdicts were being read. He quoted Jones as saying, “It must be what hell is. Even if you don’t get the money, they have read the damages.”
Jones also tried to raise money, with a split screen of courtroom proceedings being held while the verdicts were being read. “The money you donate doesn’t go to these people,” he said.
Read the details about the case below.
Update, Aug 5: A Texas jury slapped Alex Jones with $45.2 million in punitive damages for spreading the false claim that the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting massacre was a hoax.
The jury’s award is added to the $4.1 million in compensation the jury awarded to the parents of Jesse Lewis, who were among 26 people killed in Thursday’s massacre. Jones had already been found liable in the parent’s defamation case, as he claimed the Infowars host argued that Sandy Hook was a “false flag” operation, causing him to face death threats and harassment. Had to do
It is unclear whether the $45.2 figure will be retained, as Texas law imposes a cap on punitive damages.
Jones was not present in the courtroom when the verdict was pronounced. She confronted the parents earlier in the week, and admitted that the Sandy Hook massacre was “100% real”. But Jones faced some recent attacks on the judge by his lawyer and his own characterization of the jury as “extremely blue-collar.”
Jones faces two other harm trials brought in by the parents of Sandy Hook victims.
during testimony on friday One economist put the price of Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, at somewhere between $135 million and $270 million.
Lewis’ parents, Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, sought $150 million in damages.
During Friday’s closing arguments, one of the parents’ attorneys, Wesley Ball, told the jury, “You need to prevent and prevent Alex Jones from doing this kind of thing again to another family or any other person.” is called for those who want to step in. His shoes.”
You can watch the judge read out the jury’s award below.
Earlier, August 4: A jury decided Thursday that Alex Jones must pay at least $4.1 million in damages to the parents of one of the 6-year-old victims in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Jones, the conspiracy theorist behind Infowars, had already lost his defamation case, and the jury in the Texas case was trying to determine how much in compensatory damages between Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son Jesse. was due. 26 died in this massacre. The jurors will now proceed to the next stage of the proceedings to decide how much to award in punitive damages.
After Jones smuggled in the false claim that Sandy Hook was a false flag operation, the parents said they then faced death threats and ongoing harassment. He sought $150 million in damages.
The televised trial this week put Jones face-to-face with parents as they testified to the damage caused by their claims that the school shooting was a hoax. Jones said on the stand for more than two days that he now believed Sandy Hook was “100% real”, while trying to back down on the idea that it was a relentless denial of what had happened. .
But on Wednesday, Jones faced a harsh cross-examination from the parents’ attorney, Mark Bankston. Bankston told Jones that his lawyers had mistakenly sent him two years’ worth of text messages and emails.
Bankston told the court Thursday that the January 6 committee requested those messages. Jones, who supported the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump, was removed as part of a January 6 committee investigation. The judge in the case, Maya Guerra Gamble, denied a defense motion to seal the record and declare a false trial.
Jones faces a loss suit in another case filed by a group of Sandy Hook families in Connecticut, as well as in another case in Texas, where his company is based.
During the most recent trial, the parents’ attorney confronted Jones with the recent Infowars attacks on Gamble, as well as the jury’s own characterization of Jones as “extremely blue-collar people.”
Eric Pedersen contributed to this report.