Alex Jones ordered to pay $4.1M in Sandy Hook damages

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones conceded during the trial that the attack was real and that he was wrong to have lied about it. (Photo: Briana Sanchez/AP)

Alex Jones has been ordered to pay the parents of a 6-year-old kid slain in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting more than $4 million.

A Texas jury on Thursday (local time) ordered Jones to pay restitution to the parents of Jesse Lewis, one of 20 children and six educators murdered in the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, US.

It is the first time the Infowars host has been held financially responsible for his repeated claims that the bloodiest school shooting in US history was a hoax.

The Austin jury must still determine how much punitive damages the Infowars host must pay to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis.

The parents requested at least $150 million in compensation for slander and deliberate injury of emotional distress.

The attorney for Jones requested the jury to restrict damages to $8 - one dollar for each of the compensation claims they are considering - and Jones stated that any verdict above $2 million "would sink us."

It will likely not be the last ruling against Jones about his accusations that the attack was staged to promote stricter gun regulation.

In a similar lawsuit brought by other victims' families and an FBI agent who worked on the case, a court in Connecticut decided against him.

The Texas award may serve as a precedent for future cases against Jones and highlights the financial threat he faces.

It also raises new concerns about the ability of Infowars, which has been banned from YouTube, Spotify, and Twitter for hate speech, to continue operations. Still, the company's financial situation remains unknown.

During the trial, Jones admitted that the attack was actual and that he had lied about it.

However, Heslin and Lewis told the jury that an apology would not suffice and urged them to hold Jones accountable for the years of misery he caused them and other Sandy Hook, families.

During the two-week trial, Jones' media firm, Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars, filed for bankruptcy.

Publish : 2022-08-05 05:47:00

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