A jury in Connecticut concluded today that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay NZ$1. 7 billion (US$965 million) to victims who suffered as a result of his false assertion that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a fabrication.
The decision was the second significant judgement against the Infowars host related to his steadfast promotion of the myth that the 2012 massacre never occurred and that the distraught family depicted in news reports were hired actors in a scheme to take away people’s firearms.
It was revealed in a lawsuit brought by the families of an FBI agent who was among the first responders at the scene, five children, three educators, and one other person murdered in the horrific shooting. The parents of another murdered kid received a roughly NZ$90 million verdict from a Texas jury in August.
In the Connecticut trial, the victims’ parents and siblings gave emotional testimony about how they had endured years of harassment and threats from those who had bought into the lies Jones had spread.
They were being recorded at their residences by strangers. On social media, insulting comments were made. The murdered Sandy Hook school administrator Dawn Hochsprung’s daughter, Erica Lafferty, claimed that she received rape threats in the mail. The burial of Mark Barden’s son Daniel, age 7, was urinated on by conspiracy theorists, who also threatened to remove the coffin, according to Mark Barden.
Jones admitted during testimony that he had been mistaken about Sandy Hook. The shooting was real, he said.
He was, however, obstinate both in the courtroom and on his show.
He disparaged the judge, dubbed the plaintiffs’ attorney an ambulance chaser, labelled the proceedings a “kangaroo court,” and said the case violated the right to free speech. He asserted that there was an effort to silence him and destroy his business by Democrats and the media.
During his testimony, he remarked, “I’ve already said ‘I’m sorry,’ hundreds of times, and I’m done saying I’m sorry.”
The incident on December 14, 2012 resulted in the deaths of 20 children and 6 adults. A courthouse in Waterbury, which is roughly 32 kilometres from Newtown, where the attack happened, hosted the defamation trial.
The lawsuit accused Jones and Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, of using the mass killing to build his audience and make millions of dollars. Experts testified that Jones’ audience and revenue from product sales increased when he made Sandy Hook a theme on the show.
Jones disobeyed court rules regarding the exchange of evidence, including failing to turn over records that might have revealed whether Infowars had intentionally profited from disseminating false information about mass killings, and judges in both the Texas lawsuit and the one in Connecticut found the company liable for damages by default.
Jones was unable to speak about other subjects, such as free speech rights, because he had already been found guilty.
In a lawsuit brought by the parents of a different kid slain in the incident, Jones will now stand trial for a third time in Texas before the end of the year.
How much of the verdicts Jones can afford to pay is unknown. He provided testimony during the Texas trial that he was unable to pay any judgement over $3. 6 million NZD. A bankruptcy petition has been made by Free Speech Systems. However, an analyst said that Jones and his business were worth up to NZ$481 million during the Texas proceeding.
For lying about Sandy Hook, Alex Jones was ordered to pay $1.7 billion.
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