Alex Jones. Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool A Connecticut jury ordered Alex Jones on Wednesday to pay $965 million to relatives of the Sandy Hook shooting victims. For years, Jones spread a lie that the shooting was a government-orchestrated hoax.
In August, a Texas jury ordered Jones to pay nearly $50 million in damages to one Sandy Hook family. Conspiracy theorist radio host Alex Jones must pay $965 million in compensatory damages to families who lost loved ones in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, a jury ordered on Wednesday. For years, Jones pushed a false theory that the shooting — where 20 first-graders and six adults were killed — was staged by the government to provide a pretext for restricting gun ownership.
The Connecticut lawsuit is the second of three similar cases that Jones lost by default last year when he ignored court orders to turn over financial records about his company, Free Speech Systems. In August, the first of those cases wrapped in Texas, with a jury ordering Jones to pay nearly $50 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the parents of one Sandy Hook victim, Jesse Lewis. However, that total will likely be severely slashed thanks to a cap on punitive damages in the state.
The case in Connecticut was much bigger, with 15 plaintiffs involved — mostly parents who lost children in the shooting. A third case back in Texas, where Jones is based, has yet to be scheduled. Here’s how much each of the plaintiffs were awarded in the Connecticut case: Robbie Parker $120 million Jacqueline Barden $28.
8 million Mark Barden $57. 6 million Nicole Hockley $73. 6 million Ian Hockley $81.
6 millionFrancine Wheeler $54 millionDavid Wheeler $55 million Jennifer Hensel $52 million Erica Lafferty $76 millionDonna Soto $48 million Carlee Soto-Parisi $66 million Carlos M. Soto $57. 6 million Jillian Soto Marino $68.
8 millionWillaim Aldenberg $90 million William Sherlach $36 million Many of the plaintiffs broke down in tears as the award amount was read out Wednesday afternoon. Sandy Hook dad Robbie Parker, who Jones directly accused of being a crisis actor, was the first name to be read out by the jury, and was awarded the most of any of the plaintiffs — a total of $120 million. During his time on the stand, Parker spoke about being harassed in the street by a man who accused him of lying about his daughter Emilie’s murder at Sandy Hook.
William Aldenberg, an FBI agent who respodned to the shooting, was awarded the second-highest amount of $90 million. Aldenberg spoke to the jury about becoming the center of wild Sandy Hook conspiracies just because he looked slightly like one of the fathers who lost a child during the shooting, David Wheeler. The jury came to their decision after four days of deliberations.
They also decided to allow the judge to award an amount to cover the plaintiffs’ legal fees and costs at a later date. They sat through nearly four weeks of grueling testimony from the plaintiffs, who explained how Jones’ lies caused them to be harassed by his legions of fans who trolled them online, confronted them on the street, and even showed up at their homes. Some of the parents said they needed to move out of Newtown, and took out massive life insurance policies to benefit their children in case they themselves were ever murdered by conspiracy theorists.
Since Jones’ company is private, his personal finances remain somewhat opaque. A forensic economist who was called to testify on behalf of the plaintiffs in the Texas trial estimated that Jones and Free Speech Systems have a combined wealth somewhere between $135 million and $270 million. But just as the Texas trial was starting this summer, Free Speech Systems filed for bankruptcy, and Jones has repeatedly claimed that he doesn’t have the money to pay the families.
The plaintiffs have argued that Jones has hidden his wealth in shell companies. Read the original article on Insider.
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/alex-jones-ordered-pay-965-million-to-sandy-hook-families-2022-10
