Alex Jones Hit With Nearly $1 Billion in Damages for Lies About Sandy Hook Victims

Listening to the jury verdict of InfoWars’ Alex Jones defamation trial in Connecticut was like listening to a bell toll. Over and over, every line learn was like a stake being stabbed right into a bloodsucking vampire’s coronary heart: “$120 million,” “$55 million,” “$54 million, $28,800,000…” every of the 15 particular person members on the plaintiff’s aspect of the courtroom trying stoically forward or placing their heads of their fingers because the totals have been learn out. The Sandy Hook households have argued they and their households suffered immense emotional grief from Jones perpetuating the lie that their kids didn’t die by the hands of a gunman whereas at college near 10 years in the past.

And that was simply the compensatory damages. After all of the numbers have been tallied up, Jones now faces $965 million in damages to the eight households of Sandy Hook victims and one FBI agent who responded to the scene.

In the previous, Jones had routinely referred to as the 2012 Sandy Hook capturing a hoax, a “false flag operation,” and additional claimed that the 20 kids who died within the bloodbath have been disaster actors attempting to construct a case towards lawful gun house owners. He later recanted that model in court docket, at one level admitting that the capturing was “100% real.”

During the trial, the victims’ households testified they’d suffered excessive emotional misery due to Jones’ followers, together with on-line loss of life and rape threats. Mark Barden, who’s son Daniel died throughout the capturing, advised the court docket that conspiracy theorists had advised him they have been defiling his son’s grave, “urinating on it and threatening to dig it up.”

Barden was awarded $57.6 million in compensatory damages. Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was additionally killed at Sandy Hook, suffered a lot vitriol and abuse from Jones’ followers he stated he needed to transfer 3,000 miles away. Parker was awarded $120 million in compensatory damages, the biggest variety of all of the plaintiffs.

Alex Jones was reside throughout the verdict studying the place he advised his throng of sycophantic listeners: “Do these people actually think they’re getting any of this money?” Jones additionally referred to as the decision a “joke” and stated he’ll attraction, including he can “keep them in court for years.” NBC additionally reported that Jones’ attorneys stated in addition they deliberate to attraction.

Of course, an enormous motive why Jones misplaced this case within the first place was as a result of a decide dominated he failed to provide important proof earlier than the trial started. He was discovered responsible for damages by default, which is virtually unparalleled within the judicial system.

How Does This Verdict Compare to Past Alex Jones Defamation Trials?

The bombshell penalties make Jones’ earlier defamation case earlier this 12 months appear paltry by comparability. In the that case, a Texas court docket fined Jones $49.3 million for his lies. To put that in perspective, all but one of the plaintiffs within the Connecticut are set to obtain payout bigger than the Texas positive. Jones made a quick, however stunning look throughout that trial solely to predictably lambast what he known as a “kangaroo court.” The decide reportedly needed to reprimand Jones like a petulant baby after he interrupted proceedings to name the trial a “witch hunt.”

In the Connecticut case, prosecutors accused Jones of utilizing his perceived credibility amongst his InfoWars viewers to promote an assortment of whacky dietary supplements, dick pills, and different merchandise. That viewership, and financial profit that goes together with it, allegedly elevated following Jones’s rampant lies. In a twist, Jones refused to show over InfoWars’ Google analytics knowledge from the previous three years for causes unknown. Barbara Bellis, the decide overseeing the case, sanctioned Jones and, reportedly referred to as the omission, “stunningly cavalier.” Jones was absent throughout the trial.

Jones went to nice lengths to try to keep away from paying up for his lies. Back in April, the alleged day-drinker filed for chapter 11 chapter—also called “reorganization bankruptcy”—for 3 of his Texas based mostly corporations. A federal chapter decide in Texas ordered new officers to supervise Jones’ InfoWars chapter case final month citing an absence of transparency. Though the precise worth of Jones’ entries stays unclear, court docket paperwork obtained by The Huffington Post recommend InfoWars raked in $165 million in gross sales from September 2015 to the tip of 2018.

Whether or not Jones will really willfully scrounge collectively the almost $1 billion he now owes stays unsure. Jones, in typical trend, reacted to the decide’s ruling on InfoWars in actual time by yelling and taunting the affected households. “Do these people actually think they’re getting any of this money?” he reportedly stated.