Connecticut state jury orders InfoWars founder Alex Jones to pay for Sandy Hook’s lies

The jury decided Wednesday afternoon that Infowars founder Alex Jones should pay $965 million for spreading lies that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax and that the grieving parents involved were paid actors.

Money It will go straight into the pockets of family members who lost a child in the massacre, and into the FBI agent who was harassed by Jones’ listeners. There were 15 plaintiffs in total.

Jones’ chaotic trial took place in Waterbury, Connecticut, 20 miles southwest of where 26 people were murdered just over a decade ago. Jury deliberations began on October 6 and concluded on Wednesday, with the six-person jury ruling unanimously that Jones must pay nearly $1 billion for his abhorrent actions.

Jones’ compensation was determined on Wednesday only. The jury will decide whether Jones should also pay punitive damages at a later time — a process similar to Jones’ August trial in Texas, in which the jury was ordered to pay $4.1 million in damages, followed by a second order paying Jones $45.2 million. in punitive damages.

The conspiracy theorist, who was not present on Wednesday, struggled to keep his cool during his time at the witness stand, and on one occasion even said he finished saying sorry.

“Is this a struggle session? Are we in China?” Jones angered Christopher Mattei, the plaintiffs’ attorney, during questioning. “I’ve already said I’m sorry hundreds of times, and I finished saying I’m sorry.”

The jury was not tasked with determining the verdict in the defamation case, as Judge Barbara Bellis had already ruled against Jones when he refused to present critical evidence, but was tasked with determining how much Jones would owe his victims in damages. Jones is now in limbo for just over $1 billion after a separate jury in Texas decided in August that he must pay nearly $50 million in compensation to the parents of one of the children killed in the shooting.

Family members who sued Jones in Connecticut said they were tortured by strangers who were inspired by his Infowars webcast. They argued that the harassers were convinced – only by Jones – that one of the deadliest school shootings in US history was a massive hoax ordered by Democrats to rally support for gun restrictions.

They claimed that this harassment made matters worse for grieving families, many of whom had just lost their children to a foolish shooting while sitting in the first grade classroom.

Among those who testified against Jones was Mark Bardeen, whose son Daniel was killed in the shooting. He said the Waco began flooding his personal website with hateful comments after Jones called the shooting a hoax, calling it a “liar and fraud”, Washington Post mentioned.

Bardeen said that the harassers quickly took their hatred to another level, threatening to dig the grave of his son, whom the harassers also claimed to have desecrated.

“To hear that people desecrate it, urinate on it, and threaten to dig it,” Bardeen said of his son’s grave. “I don’t know how to tell you how that feels. But that’s where we are.”

Other prosecutors said they were forced to move multiple times to escape the hatred aroused by Jones’ lies, which he regularly repeated in his daily shows.

Matty said Jones created a “lying machine” to make profit at the expense of bereaved parents.

“He knew his army was after them.” Thursday said. “Each of these families was drowning in grief and Alex Jones set his foot right on top of them.”

under Connecticut lawIn a damages trial, jurors are tasked with hearing evidence about the extent of the damage—in this case, the “pain and suffering” Jones caused—and coming to a consensus about fair compensation for victims.

Mattie, in his closing arguments Thursday, focused on the profits Jones made while spreading the lies. Mattei said that as his viewership increased, so did his sale of products like nutritional supplements and survival gear.

Jones and his lawyers responded that he should not be held responsible for what his supporters do.

Jones refused to hand over financial data on visits to his websites while simultaneously filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors earlier this year for Infowars and its parent company Free Speech Systems. According to the site, the value of his company is believed to range between 135 and 270 million dollars Austin Monthly.

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