The children’s parents, according to lawyers, were forced to hire private security for the trial out of concern that Jones’ followers might seek to harm them.
The conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ordered to pay $4.1 million in damages after falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.
A victim’s parents have sought at least $150 million in a defamation lawsuit against the Infowars founder. They said they suffered harassment and emotional distress because of the “right-wing presenter’s” misinformation. Twenty children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
Jurors in the city of Austin decided on damages on Thursday, July 4, 2022 and have yet to determine any punitive damages. Jones, who was not in court when the result was announced, has repeatedly argued that the shooting was a hoax staged by the government to strip Americans of their right to own guns and that the parents of the dead children were “crisis actors.” .
He has already lost a number of defamation cases, brought by parents of the victims in his absence, after he did not produce documents and testimonies. However, this is the first in which a jury has agreed to award monetary damages.
Before Thursday’s decision, an attorney for the plaintiffs revealed that Jones’ attorney had accidentally sent him text messages from his client’s phone. The lawyer said a congressional committee investigating last year’s riot at the US Capitol had already requested access to the messages. The commission said Jones helped organize a rally held shortly before the riot.
Despite withdrawing his claims about the Sandy Hook school, Jones continued to use his platform to attack the jury and judge in that case.
He also claimed bankruptcy despite evidence that his companies were making around $800,000 a day selling nutritional supplements, gun accessories and survival gear.
The children’s parents, according to lawyers, were forced to hire private security for the trial out of concern that Jones’ followers might seek to harm them. A psychiatrist testified that the parents were suffering from “post-traumatic stress disorder,” similar to that experienced by soldiers on the battlefield or victims of child abuse.
Read the News today and get the latest news. Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
