A civil jury in Connecticut has ruled that Alex Jones and his company Infowars should pay a total of $965 million to the families of several children killed at Sandy Hook, as well as an FBI agent who responded to the scene of the attack, for defaming them on-air. This amount combines the damages awarded for defamation, slander, and emotional distress that the jury ruled Jones and Infowars caused against each of the 15 plaintiffs. This is the second large judgment that Jones has recently been ordered to pay to Sandy Hook families; in August, a Texas jury ruled that he and Infowars should pay a combined total of $49.3 million in punitive and compensatory damages to Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, whose son Jesse also died in the attack . Jones spent years calling the Sandy Hook killings a “total hoax,” a position he has insisted he no longer holds. But as recently as last week, Jones referred to Sandy Hook on air as “synthetic,” and has repeatedly said that the trial is “rigged.” (His comments about the event being “synthetic” were first unearthed by Knowledge Fight, a podcast that has made a microscopic study of Jones’ whole deal.) Jones and Infowars lost a series of civil lawsuits by default in both Texas and Connecticut after judges in both states ruled that the company failed to meaningfully respond to discovery. Jones’ attorney, Norm Pattis, attempted to make much of the fact that the plaintiffs didn’t have information and documents they were entitled to and that his side simply refused to give them, to little avail.
via vice: Connecticut Jury Orders Alex Jones and Infowars to Pay $965 Million to Sandy Hook Families