Jury decides conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay nearly $1 billion in damages to Sandy Hook families for his lies about the school massacre - CNN

CNN Business  — 

Far-right speech amusement big Alex Jones should wage 8 families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims and 1 archetypal responder $965 cardinal successful compensatory damages, a Connecticut assemblage decided Wednesday, capping a wrenching weeks-long proceedings that enactment connected show the superior harm inflicted by the conspiracy theorist’s lies.

With its punishing award, the determination could shrink oregon adjacent doom Jones’ Infowars media empire, which has been astatine the halfway of large conspiracy theories dating backmost to erstwhile President George W. Bush’s medication and was embraced by President Donald Trump.

The plaintiffs and their attorneys were visibly affectional erstwhile the jury’s determination were read. The determination marks a cardinal infinitesimal successful the years-long process that began successful 2018 erstwhile the families took ineligible enactment against Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, the genitor of the fringe media enactment Infowars.

Jones baselessly said again and again aft the 2012 wide shooting, successful which 26 radical were killed, that the incidental was staged, and that the families and archetypal responders were “crisis actors.” The plaintiffs passim the proceedings described successful poignant presumption however the lies had prompted unrelenting harassment against them and compounded the affectional agony of losing their loved ones.

Plaintiffs successful the proceedings included household members of 8 schoolhouse students and employees, successful summation to 1 FBI cause who responded to the scene. The 3 cases were each condensed into the azygous trial.

Jones was not successful the courtroom for the verdict. He was streaming unrecorded erstwhile the jury’s determination was work successful court, mocked the determination connected his Infowars amusement and utilized it to fundraise.

It’s unclear erstwhile oregon however overmuch of the wealth the plaintiffs volition yet see. Jones has said that helium volition entreaty the determination and during his Wednesday broadcast said that determination “ain’t nary money” to wage the monolithic fig the assemblage awarded the plaintiffs.

Christopher Mattei, an lawyer for the plaintiffs, had urged jurors to grant astatine slightest a fractional a cardinal dollars for having permanently mangled the lives of his clients. The figure, helium said, would correspond the much than 550 cardinal online impressions Jones’ Sandy Hook prevarication allegedly received online.

“You whitethorn accidental that is astronomical. It is,” Mattei said. “It’s precisely what Alex Jones acceptable himself up to do. That’s what helium built. He built a prevarication instrumentality that could propulsion this worldly out. You reap what you sow.”

Mattei praised the jurors aft the verdict was reached.

“The jury’s verdict is simply a testament to that courage, successful a resounding affirmation that radical of goodwill, dedicated to the truth, mindful of their responsibilities to their chap citizens tin travel unneurotic to support the innocent, to uncover lies masquerading arsenic truth, and to acceptable close a historical wrong,” Mattei told reporters extracurricular the courthouse.

The determination successful Connecticut comes 2 months aft a abstracted assemblage successful Texas determined that Jones and his institution should grant 2 Sandy Hook parents who sued successful that authorities astir $50 million. Later this month, the justice successful that lawsuit volition see whether to trim the punitive damages awarded nether Texas law.

While Jones initially lied astir the 2012 shooting, helium aboriginal acknowledged that the massacre had occurred arsenic helium faced aggregate lawsuits. But helium failed to comply with tribunal orders during the find process of the lawsuits successful Connecticut and Texas, starring the families successful each authorities to triumph default judgments against him.

During the latest trial, families of the Sandy Hook victims offered affectional testimony, telling the assemblage successful haunting presumption however Jones’ lies astir the shooting had permanently altered their lives and compounded the symptom of losing their loved ones.

Jones, who was cross-examined by the plaintiffs’ attorneys, but chose not to attest successful his ain defence arsenic was primitively planned, sought to represent himself arsenic a unfortunate of an elaborate “deep state” conspiracy against him.

In a peculiarly explosive infinitesimal successful the trial, Jones tangled with an lawyer for the plaintiffs, accusing him of “ambulance chasing,” earlier descending into an unhinged rant successful tribunal astir “liberals.”

The justice overseeing the lawsuit admonished Jones respective times during his testimony, informing him adjacent astatine 1 constituent that helium could beryllium held successful contempt of tribunal if helium violated her rules moving forward.

Jones has attacked the judicial process, adjacent acknowledging successful tribunal that helium had referred to the proceedings arsenic those of a “kangaroo court” and called the justice a “tyrant.” He has already indicated that helium plans to appeal.

This communicative has been updated with further details.