Alex Jones must pay nearly $1 billion to families of victims of a mass shooting in Connecticut, a jury in the state said on Oct. 12.
The jury said Jones, the InfoWars host, must pay the money for defamation, slander, and emotional damages. Jurors said the plaintiffs should also be awarded attorney’s fees, which are set to be determined in November.
Jones for years claimed that family members of victims were actors who faked the tragedy and described the shooting as being staged as part of a government plot to take away Americans’ guns.
The plaintiffs in the case were relatives of 20 children and six staff members who were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012. Adam Lanza, 20, shot his mother at their home and then went to the school, where he opened fire, according to authorities.
The verdict, which came after three weeks of testimony in a state court in Waterbury, Connecticut, far outstripped the $49 million Jones was ordered to pay by a Texas jury in a similar case earlier this year. Jones’s lawyers have said they’ll appeal that amount.
Lawyers for families of eight Sandy Hook victims during closing arguments in Connecticut said Jones cashed in for years on lies about the shooting, which drove traffic to his InfoWars website and boosted sales of various products promoted there.
The families suffered a decade-long campaign of harassment and death threats driven by Jones, attorney Chris Mattei said. “Every single one of these families drowning in grief, and Alex Jones put his foot right on top of them,” Mattei told jurors.
Some of the family members testified during the trial.
“After the shock of Ben’s murder, we were … I felt like I was underwater. And I didn’t know which way was up,” David Wheeler, father of Benjamin Wheeler, 6, one of the Sandy Hook victims. “You’re grasping with that, you’re trying to get your head around that, and to have someone publicly telling the world that it didn’t happen and that you’re a fraud and a phony is incredibly disorienting.”
Jones’s lawyer said during his closing arguments that the plaintiffs had shown scant evidence of quantifiable losses. The attorney, Norman Pattis, urged jurors to ignore the political undercurrents in the case. “This is not a case about politics,” Pattis said. “It’s about how much to compensate the plaintiffs.”
Jones, who has since acknowledged that the shooting occurred, testified and railed against his “liberal” critics. During a press conference outside the courthouse in Waterbury, Jones said he has apologized repeatedly for his remarks.
“I have apologized for six years for anything that I did wrong questioning Sandy Hook. I didn’t question Sandy Hook to be mean, I wasn’t the leader in questioning Sandy Hook, but I did say things that were hurtful and not true. But I did not do it on purpose,” Jones said.
He also said, “I have a right to question something.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
Why One Survival Food Company Shines Above the Rest
Let’s be real. “Prepper Food” or “Survival Food” is generally awful. The vast majority of companies that push their cans, bags, or buckets desperately hope that their customers never try them and stick them in the closet or pantry instead. Why? Because if the first time they try them is after the crap hits the fan, they’ll be too shaken to call and complain about the quality.
It’s true. Most long-term storage food is made with the cheapest possible ingredients with limited taste and even less nutritional value. This is why they tout calories so much. Sure, they provide calories but does anyone really want to go into the apocalypse with food their family can’t stand?
This is what prompted the Llewellyns to launch Heaven’s Harvest. They bought survival food from multiple companies and determined they couldn’t imagine being stuck in an extended emergency with such low-quality food. They quickly discovered that freeze drying food for long-term storage doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavor, consistency, or nutrition.
Their ingredients are all-American. In fact, they’re locally sourced and all-natural! This allows their products to be the highest quality on the market, so good that their customers often break open a bag in a pinch to eat because they want to, not just because they have to due to an emergency.
At Heaven’s Harvest, their only focus is amazing food. They don’t sell bugout bags, solar chargers, or multitools. They have one mission – feeding Americans in times of crisis.
What they DO offer is the ability for people to thrive in times of greatest need. On top of long-term storage food, they offer seeds to help Americans for the truly long-term. They want them to grow their own food if possible which is why they offer only Heirloom, Non-GMO, Non-Hybrid, Open-Pollinated seeds so their customers can build permanent food security on their own property.
This case is the precedent to discourage anyone from questioning any “official” news story, because to do so might find one sued into oblivion because someone’s “feelings” were hurt. From this point on, we only follow the official story: Oswald acted alone; OKC was a single truck bomb, no explosives planted inside the Murrah building; Branch Davidians in Waco and by golly, a jumbo jet fueled by high-grade kerosine can cause a skyscraper to dissolve into dust. No crime scene investigation was performed in any of the aforementioned incidents, because it wasn’t needed as we already had “The Official Report” within thirty minutes.
Just stick to the official script or be sued to oblivion.
The jury system is a complete failure in this “woke” mentality age! These jurors need to be sent to a mental institution until they can think straight again. This will NEVER stand up on appeal!