Sandy Hook Families Win $1 Billion From Alex Jones - The New York Times

• Oct. 12, 2022Updated 8:46 p.m. ET

WATERBURY, Conn. — The families of 8 Sandy Hook shooting victims connected Wednesday won astir $1 cardinal successful damages from the Infowars fabulist Alex Jones, a devastating stroke against his empire and a connection from the assemblage that his lies and those of his followers person crippling consequences.

Mr. Jones, who for years said the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting that killed 20 archetypal graders and six educators successful Newtown, Conn., was a authorities hoax, present faces fiscal ruin. But it is unclear however overmuch wealth the families volition yet collect.

The families and their lawyers sat successful stunned soundlessness arsenic the tribunal clerk work 1 by 1 the sums awarded to each of 15 plaintiffs successful the case. After tribunal was adjourned, they hugged 1 different quietly, weeping.

The largest grant went to Robbie Parker, who received $120 million. For years connected his Infowars amusement and website, Mr. Jones singled retired Mr. Parker, whose girl Emilie died astatine Sandy Hook, arsenic an histrion whose televised tribute to Emilie a time aft her decease was “disgusting.”

Mr. Parker, who has endured online abuse, harassment and decease threats since, formed the centerpiece of the Connecticut case. “Every time successful that courtroom, we got up connected the basal and we told the truth,” helium said. “Telling the information shouldn’t beryllium truthful hard, and it shouldn’t beryllium truthful scary.”

Mr. Parker added, successful a motion to Mr. Jones’s followers, “For anybody that inactive chooses to perceive to that man, conscionable inquire yourself, what has helium ever fixed you?”

In each likelihood Mr. Jones does not person the wealth to wage Wednesday’s award. In August a forensic economist estimated that Mr. Jones’s empire was worth a maximum of $270 million, but that aforesaid period Mr. Jones enactment his genitor company, Free Speech Systems, into bankruptcy. Mr. Jones claimed that a indebtedness of $54 cardinal — owed to a institution helium controls — had made him insolvent.

But Mr. Jones’s yearly revenues person topped $50 cardinal successful caller years from hawking fare supplements, survivalist cogwheel and weapon paraphernalia connected his broadcasts. He has besides utilized the Connecticut proceedings arsenic good arsenic a proceedings this past summertime successful Texas — successful which helium was ordered to wage 2 Sandy Hook parents about $50 million — to solicit donations to his ineligible money and boost his merchandise sales.

The Sandy Hook families have challenged the bankruptcy successful court, saying the filing is an effort to debar paying what are mounting damages awards.

Mr. Jones, unrepentant, livestreamed the jury’s verdict connected Wednesday connected his Infowars show. “They covered up what truly happened, and present I’m the devil,” he said. “I’m really arrogant to beryllium nether this level of attack.”

Wednesday’s grant was divided among the 15 plaintiffs successful the Connecticut case, which included parents, siblings, children and spouses of 8 victims, and an F.B.I. cause who was implicated successful the bogus theories, which falsely claimed that the families were actors successful a authorities crippled to enact weapon power and that the massacre ne'er happened.

Over two weeks of testimony successful the Connecticut trial, the families showed however Mr. Jones ignored years of pleas and demands that helium halt airing Sandy Hook falsehoods due to the fact that they boosted Infowars’s merchandise sales. In court, the witnesses shared wrenching stories of harassment by conspiracy theorists who believed Mr. Jones’s lies, including decease and rape threats, confrontations and messages threatening to defile and excavation up the victims’ graves. The assemblage besides heard Mr. Jones’s explosive and evasive testimony and saw information demonstrating the theories’ extended online reach.

Until helium joined the suit successful precocious 2018, Mr. Parker had remained soundless astir the maltreatment his household had received from radical who believed Mr. Jones’s lies, retired of fears of encouraging them. The nighttime aft the shooting, Mr. Parker agreed to conscionable what helium thought would beryllium 1 newsman to present a connection astir his daughter. Confronted alternatively with a oversea of cameras, helium gave a short, shocked laughter that Mr. Jones replayed for years, mocking Mr. Parker and igniting a torrent of decease threats and maltreatment from conspiracy theorists who believed helium was acting.

He and Emilie’s mother, Alissa Parker, both testified successful the trial. Mrs. Parker described a “full-on assault” by hoaxers and her panic that they would disrupt Emilie’s funeral. Mr. Parker recovered Mrs. Parker cowering successful a closet earlier the service.

During his testimony, Mr. Parker described a 2016 occurrence successful which helium was accosted successful Seattle — 4 years and thousands of miles distant from the massacre — by a antheral who launched a profanity-laced tirade, asking Mr. Parker however overmuch wealth helium had made from the authorities for faking his daughter’s decease astatine Sandy Hook.

In mid-2018, the families of 10 victims filed 4 abstracted defamation lawsuits against Mr. Jones, aboriginal combined into three. Beyond stopping Mr. Jones, the families said the lawsuits aimed to gully attraction to an detonation of harmful disinformation and mendacious narratives dispersed by radical with almighty societal media platforms who were seldom held to account.

Once an obscure conspiracy broadcaster successful Austin, Texas, Mr. Jones garnered nationalist attraction successful the aftermath of Sandy Hook, erstwhile his explosive defence of the Second Amendment brought him mainstream media coverage.

His staunch enactment for erstwhile President Donald J. Trump, who appeared connected Mr. Jones’s amusement portion a Republican campaigner for president, ushered Mr. Jones from the extremist fringe to the halfway of Trump-era Republican politics.

He has had a relation successful spreading virtually each incendiary prevarication to predominate headlines implicit the past decade, including Pizzagate, the mendacious assertion that Democrats trafficked children from a Washington pizzeria; the “great replacement theory” that ignited deadly neo-Nazi unit successful Charlottesville, Va.; Covid vaccine lies; and the 2020 statesmanlike predetermination falsehoods that brought a convulsive mob to the Capitol connected Jan. 6, 2021.

Today, astir one-fifth of Americans judge high-profile wide shootings person been staged, usually by the government.

Mr. Jones is present nether scrutiny by the Justice Department and the House Jan. 6 committee for his relation successful readying events adjacent to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, which helium broadcast live.

Mr. Jones for years refused to proviso analytical data, concern records oregon grounds ordered by the courts successful the lawsuits, which were filed successful Texas, wherever Infowars is based, and the existent 1 successful Connecticut. Late past twelvemonth judges successful some states ruled him liable by default, granting the families a sweeping triumph that acceptable the existent damages trials successful motion.

“Just to get to a proceedings successful beforehand of a assemblage is simply a immense accomplishment, fixed the utmost measures Alex Jones has taken to effort to debar that,” said Alinor Sterling, a lawyer connected the families’ ineligible team. “His onslaught connected these families has been a dehumanizing attack, and 1 of the ways to reconstruct a consciousness of equilibrium and assemblage and humanity is to effort this lawsuit successful beforehand of a jury.”

A 3rd and last damages proceedings — successful a defamation lawsuit brought by Lenny Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose lad Noah Pozner was killed astatine Sandy Hook — is tentatively scheduled for precocious this year, but the day has not been set.

Mr. Jones began denying Sandy Hook and targeting the families hours aft the shooting, but his falsehoods did not garner wide scrutiny until the lawsuits were filed. Even Piers Morgan, who waged a televised crusade for stricter weapon authorities successful the contiguous aftermath of Sandy Hook arsenic a CNN host, did not inquire Mr. Jones astir his Sandy Hook theories during Mr. Jones’s interrogation connected his show.

In the Connecticut trial, lawyers for the families utilized forensic analyses of web traffic, Infowars interior communications and Google Analytics information — which Mr. Jones and his lawyer, Norm Pattis, had falsely claimed during find that Infowars didn’t usage — to show however assemblage income skyrocketed erstwhile helium talked astir Sandy Hook.

Mr. Jones, who flew with his entourage to Waterbury by backstage jet, stayed successful a rented villa with a excavation and tennis court. He declined to amusement up for astir of the trial.

He spent astir of his little clip successful Connecticut extracurricular the courthouse, falsely claiming the lawsuits were a “deep state” effort to soundlessness him. In truth, helium forfeited his quality to assertion First Amendment extortion for his lies, oregon to enactment connected immoderate different defense, by failing to supply court-ordered records and grounds during discovery.

The justice barred Mr. Jones oregon his lawyer from speaking astir authorities oregon his finances successful court. In the earlier proceedings successful Austin, Mr. Jones was admonished by the justice for falsely claiming helium was bankrupt.

Mr. Jones’s azygous time of grounds successful Connecticut was explosive, arsenic helium drew frowns from immoderate jurors by loudly proclaiming his lack of contrition.

Mr. Pattis, his lawyer, was repeatedly admonished by the justice during the litigation for mishandling the families’ idiosyncratic accusation and testimony, injecting authorities into the proceedings, including by mounting an effort to subpoena Hillary Clinton, and disparaging the families’ lawyers to the jury, calling them “in it for the money.”

During the proceedings Mr. Pattis suggested the families were exaggerating the harm done to them by Mr. Jones.

During his clip connected the stand, Mr. Jones viewed Mr. Parker’s afloat quality conference, watching a video of Mr. Parker reminiscing astir his daughter’s creation skills, her empathy arsenic a sister and person and the Parker family’s compassion for the household of the gunman.

“Robbie Parker’s sitting close here,” Christopher M. Mattei, a lawyer for the families, told Mr. Jones. “He’s real, isn’t he? And for years you enactment a people connected his back, didn’t you? Just similar you did each azygous genitor and loved 1 sitting here.”

“Is this a conflict session? Are we successful China?” Mr. Jones said, a remark echoed by Mr. Pattis, arsenic the families successful the assemblage wept.

“I’ve already said I’m sorry, and I’m done saying I’m sorry,” Mr. Jones said.

Emily Steel contributed reporting from New York.