Alex Jones ordered to pay more than $4 million to Sandy Hook’s parents

A Texas jury on Thursday ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay more than $4 million in restitution to the parents of a 6-year-old boy killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, marking the first time he has been convicted. . information The presenter was held financially responsible for repeatedly claiming that the deadliest school shooting in US history was a lie.

An Austin jury has yet to decide how much information The host must pay punitive damages to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis was among 20 children and six caregivers who died in 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut.

The parents were seeking at least $150 million in damages for defamation and intentionally inflicting emotional distress. Jones’ lawyer asked jurors to limit damages to $8 – one dollar for every award they consider – and Jones himself said that any award above $2 million would “sink us”.

This is probably not the last verdict against Jones for his claims that the attack was carried out in the interest of greater gun control. A Connecticut judge ruled against him on behalf of the families of other victims and an FBI agent who worked on the case.

The Texas award could point to other cases against Jones and underscore the financial threat he faces. It also raises new questions about whether Infowars, which has been banned from YouTube, Spotify and Twitter for hate speech, will continue to operate, although the company’s finances remain uncertain.

During the trial, Jones admitted that the attack was real and that he was wrong to lie about it. But Heslin and Lewis told the jury that an apology would not be enough and urged them to make Jones pay for the years of suffering he caused them and other Sandy Hook families.

Jones’ media company, Free Speech Systems, which is Infowars’ parent company, filed for bankruptcy during the two-week trial.