A jury has ordered Alex Jones, a far-right conspiracy theorist, to pay the parents of a Sandy Hook attack victim $4 million in damages after he claimed that the horrific incident was a "hoax" and part of an elaborate ruse to enforce gun control in the United States.
The Thursday decision caps a stunning and dramatic case that showcased for the public the real-world harm inflicted by viral conspiracy theories. The award from the jury was far less than what the plaintiffs, Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, had requested.
Alex Jones To Pay $4 Million in Damages
At the beginning of the trial, attorneys for the couple had asked the jury to award their clients $150 million in compensatory damages, which makes the award less than 3% of the intended amount. A separate, shorter trial during which punitive damages will be discussed is now expected later on.
An attorney for Lewis and Heslin, Mark Bankston, said that the plaintiffs are happy with the jury's decision, noting that the couple also received money prior to the trial due to sanctions that the court had hit Jones with, as per CNN.
Bankston noted that after the couple had already secured $1.5 million in fines from Jones, they were now due $5.6 million. He added that Lewis and Heslin were thrilled with the jury's decision and looked forward to putting Jones' money to good use.
The attorney said that Jones would probably not sleep easy tonight after losing the hearing with punitive damages still to be decided and multiple additional defamation lawsuits pending against him.
Read Also: Alex Jones Acknowledges Sandy Hook Attack After Being Confronted With Evidence of Deception
According to Fox News, Jones, the founder of Infowars, theorized that the 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which left 20 children and six teachers dead, was fake. The parents of a six-year-old victim testified on Tuesday about how they have endured a decade of trauma.
Conspiracy Theories
They argued that it was inflicted first by the murder of their son and the events that followed. They heard gunshots fired at the home, received online and phone threats, and harassment on the street by strangers.
The couple said that the threats and harassment were all fueled by Jones and his conspiracy theory that spread to his millions of followers via his website. Lewis said that it seemed so incredible that the couple needed to get Jones to stop lying about the horrific shooting.
The ruling on Thursday marked the first time the Infowars founder has been held financially liable for repeatedly claiming the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history is a hoax. Furthermore, a judge in Connecticut has already ruled against him in a similar lawsuit.
During the trial, Bankston revealed that he was able to acquire text information from Jones' mobile phone. He said that they included texts with the political operative Roger J. Stone Jr. Mr. Bankston said he had heard from "various federal agencies and law enforcement" about the material.
Furthermore, the House Select Committee, which is investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, has pushed to obtain Jones' texts for months, arguing that they could be relevant to understanding the Infowars founder's role in helping organize the rally at the Ellipse near the White House before the insurrection, the New York Times reported.
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