InfoWars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been ordered to pay just under $50 million in damages to a pair of parents whose sons were killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. .
Briana Sanchez / AP
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Briana Sanchez / AP
InfoWars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been ordered to pay just under $50 million in damages to a pair of parents whose sons were killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. .
Briana Sanchez / AP
A Texas jury decided Friday that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will pay a family $45.2 million in punitive damages after spreading false information about the massacre. 20212 at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The grand jury’s decision came Friday after they awarded the parents of the slain first-grader $4.1 million for mental distress, bringing the total damages against the InfoWars founder. to $49.3 million.
Jones has spent years telling his audience that one of the worst school shootings in American history was a hoax. Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, who brought charges against Jones, told the court how he had turned their lives into “hell on earth” after Jesse, her 6-year-old son they were shot dead in the attack.
“I can’t even describe the past nine and a half years,” Heslin said. “The hell on earth that I and others have endured because of Alex Jones’ recklessness and negligence.”
Jones told the parents he never intended to hurt them. He also said he eventually admitted that the massacre did indeed take place, despite repeatedly saying the shooting was staged year after year.
He argued that he was an obstinate person who practiced his right to free speech. Jones’ hate speech and lies got him removed from multiple platforms, including YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, NPR previously reported.
However, his broadcast of conspiracy theories continues to attract millions of viewers each month, some of whom have gone as far as to spy on and harass Heslin and Lewis, even threatening death .
Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems LLC, filed for bankruptcy during the trial, but his parents and attorneys believe he is hiding millions of dollars.
