'We're not going away': Alex Jones remains defiant after ordered to pay $965M to Sandy Hook families
CONNECTICUT, US: The Sandy Hook elementary school shooting which took place on December 14, 2012, left 28 people dead and 2 injured, with a six-year-old girl being the sole survivor of the horror. It was one of the deadliest school shootings in US history. Adam Lanza had murdered his mother before continuing his killing spree at the school leaving 28 dead. However, according to Alex Jones, the horrifying shooting never took place.
Alex Jones claimed that the 2012 massacre never happened, arguing it was all an act to take away people's guns. A lawsuit was filed later by the relatives of five children and three educators killed in the mass shooting and an FBI agent who was among the first responders who reached the scene. Finally, Jones admitted during the trial that he was wrong and that the Sandy Hook shooting was real. The jury in Connecticut has ordered the conspiracy theorist to pay $965 million to people who suffered from his hoax claims about the mass shooting.
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BREAKING: Alex Jones ordered to pay $965 million for Sandy Hook lies 😳‼️ pic.twitter.com/7qMS0vpZAP
— RapTV (@Rap) October 12, 2022
Alex Jones and Infowars' parent company, Free Speech Systems, are accused of building his audience by using the mass shooting as a topic on his show. He has not only earned a hefty revenue but also garnered an immense audience through his tirades. Jones, however, did not cooperate with court rules on showing evidence and has allegedly exploited misinformation about the mass killings.
He also testified in the trial that he couldn't afford any judgment over $2 million, and Free Speech Systems has now filed for bankruptcy protection. However, an economist has testified to the contrary in the Texas proceedings. It appears that Jones and his company are worth as much as $270 million.
It is as yet unclear how Jones will pay up. He spoke about the jury's verdict on his show on Wednesday, October 12. "This must be what hell’s like – they just read out the damages. Even though you don’t got the money. They want to scare everybody away from freedom. They want to scare us away from questioning Uvalde and what really happened there or Parkland or any other event," he said while referring to the school shootings that happened in 2022 and 2018, respectively.
"We’re not scared, we’re not going away and we’re not going to stop … For hundreds of thousands of dollars, I can keep them in court for years, I can appeal this stuff, we can stand up against this travesty, against the billions of dollars they want," Jones added while asking viewers for donations to fund his platform.
Jones' false claims led to the family and relatives of the victims being threatened in real life and hounded over the internet by his ardent supporters. Erica Lafferty, daughter of slain Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung, testified in the trial that she received rape threats. Moreover, Mark Barden stated that conspiracy theorists had urinated on his seven-year-old son Daniel's grave and threatened to dig it up.
While Jones acknowledged that his judgment was wrong, he ridiculed the legal proceedings, calling it a "kangaroo court." He also labeled the case as one against free speech rights. "I’ve already said ‘I’m sorry' hundreds of times and I’m done saying I’m sorry," he said during the trial.
Jones is now facing a third trial near the end of the year. Victims' attorney Chris Mattei has said he is willing to "enforce this verdict as long as it takes because that is what justice requires."