On Thursday, the Associated Press published a breaking story that a Texas jury has found Infowars founder Alex Jones liable for $4.1 million to Sandy Hook in damages in the Sandy Hook defamation trial.
Jones called the defamation suit an attack on his First Amendment rights.
BREAKING: A jury ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay more than $4 million in compensatory damages to Sandy Hook parents. It still must decide punitive damages. https://t.co/hCaHP052d0
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 4, 2022
Here’s what AP reported:
A Texas jury on Thursday ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay more than $4 million in compensatory damages to the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, marking the first time the Infowars host has been held financially liable for repeatedly claiming the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history was a hoax.
The Austin jury must still decide how much the Infowars host must pay in punitive damages to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 children and six educators who were killed in the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut.
The parents had sought at least $150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jones’ attorney asked the jury to limit damages to $8 — one dollar for each of the compensation charges they are considering — and Jones himself said any award over $2 million “would sink us.”
The report adds that this may just be the beginning of compensation obligations for Jones, as the final ruling on damages in another case is pending:
A Connecticut judge has ruled against him in a similar lawsuit brought by other victims’ families and an FBI agent who worked on the case.
The jury must still decide how much Jones will have to pay Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis in punitive damages, which could be well over $100 million.
During the Texas trial, Jones conceded that the Sandy Hook massacre was “100% real” and that he should not have claimed it was a hoax.
“I unintentionally took part in things that did hurt these people’s feelings,” said Jones, “and I’m sorry for that.”
Sources: DailyWire, NBC News, AP
