Alex Jones Ordered To Pay Nearly $1 Billion To Sandy Hook Parents

Topline

A Connecticut jury on Wednesday ordered Alex Jones to pay $965 million to the families of several Sandy Hook elementary school shooting victims, following the conspiratorial radio host’s latest defamation trial over his false claims that the 2012 massacre was a hoax.

Alex Jones of InfoWars talks to reporters outside a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.

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Key Facts

Jones was ordered to pay $120 million in damages to Robbie Parker, the father of six-year-old victim Emilie Parker, marking the largest total for any of the plaintiffs, while Jones must pay several other parents more than $50 million each.

The jury divided the money among 15 plaintiffs in total, including 14 family members of eight Sandy Hook victims as well as an FBI agent named William Aldenberg who responded to the 2012 shooting and who was targeted in the conspiracy theories.

The plaintiffs will also be awarded attorney fees, which will be decided in November. The verdict came after three weeks of testimony, and nearly a year after a Connecticut judge ruled Jones was liable by default because he failed to abide by court rulings and hand over evidence, meaning jurors were only tasked with deciding total damages.

Two months ago, another jury in Texas ordered Jones—whose company InfoWars is based in Austin—to pay $49.3 million to Sandy Hook parents, though Jones’ attorney has argued a cap on damages under state law should apply.

Crucial Quote

“Every single one of these families [was] drowning in grief, and Alex Jones put his foot right on top of them,” Christopher Mattei, an attorney for the families, said during the trial.

Surprising Fact

Jones reacted to the nearly $1 billion in damages live on his show. He made fun of the verdict and said, “This must be what hell is like—they just read out the damages, even though you don’t got the money.” Jones claimed the verdict was aimed at “scar[ing]

everybody away from freedom,” adding “we’re not going away, and we’re not going to stop.”

Key Background

The families of eight victims killed in the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting had sued Jones for falsely arguing the elementary school shooting was a staged attack designed to help the government take away Americans’ guns, alleging he spread lies about the massacre on his site for profit. During the Connecticut trial on Wednesday, Parker said his family has faced violent threats since Jones accused him of being an actor on his show. Jones has acknowledged the shooting was real after facing lawsuits over the claims, at one point arguing a “form of psychosis” caused him to perpetuate the conspiracy theories. The massacre—which killed 20 first graders and 6 school staff members—marked one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

What To Watch For

Jones faces a third trial in Texas at the end of the year following a lawsuit filed by the parents of another Sandy Hook victim.