AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas jury on Thursday ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay more than $4 million in compensatory damages to the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, marking the first time the Infowars host has been held financially liable for repeatedly claiming the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history was a hoax.
The Austin jury must still decide how much the Infowars host must pay in punitive damages to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 children and six educators who were killed in the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut.
The parents had sought at least $150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jones’ attorney asked the jury to limit damages to $8 — one dollar for each of the compensation charges they are considering — and Jones himself said any award over $2 million “would sink us.”
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At one point, Jones was told that his attorneys had mistakenly sent Mark Bankston, who is representing Heslin and Lewis, the last two years’ worth of texts from Jones’ cellphone. Bankston said in court Thursday that the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee investigating the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol has requested the records and that he intends to comply.
And shortly after Jones declared “I don’t use email,” Jones was shown one that came from his address, and another one from an Infowars business officer telling Jones that the company had earned $800,000 gross in selling its products in a single day, which would amount to nearly $300 million in a year.
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JUST IN: Alex Jones ordered to pay Sandy Hook parents more than $4M https://t.co/sHq77xrg0y pic.twitter.com/qAaet0xgc3
— The Hill (@thehill) August 4, 2022
I can't wait for all the Fall things; cool nights, Ugg boots, PSLs, long walks in the golden-light of Autumn, and Alex Jones emails getting dragged into the light of day by the 1/6 Commission. https://t.co/NSqmXZiGd7
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 4, 2022
At least Alex Jones saved his text messages.
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) August 4, 2022
The jury has awarded about $44 million in punitive damages against Alex Jones. It was unanimous. This is on top of the roughly $4m awarded in compensatory damages yesterday.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) August 5, 2022
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