Alex Jones has suffered his second costly court defeat after a six-person jury in Connecticut awarded damages of $965m to 15 family members of Sandy Hook victims and an FBI agent.
The four-week trial in Waterbury, 20 miles from the site of the 2012 school massacre in Newport, heard of the devastating toll that the Infowars founder’s lies took on the parents who lost children.
On 14 December 2012, Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Mr Jones’ followers mounted a years-long campaign of harassment and intimidation against the families of the victims, convinced by the Infowars founder’s unhinged rants that the shooting had been faked as part of a “deep state plot” to take American’s guns away.
He was found liable of defaming the families by a default judgment, so the jury only had to decide how much to award them.
The victims’ lawyers convinced the jury that Mr Jones was motivated by greed, and the trial heard evidence that his company Free Speech Systems had raked in $100m in sales over 10 years.
Mr Jones “thrives on keeping people divided”, attorney Josh Koskoff said during closing arguments, adding that Sandy Hook and 9/11 were the “best days of his life”.
“He’s not a conspiracy theorist, he’s a liar,” Mr Koskoff told the panel.
An unrepentant Mr Jones had earlier testified that he was “done apologising” for the damage and pain his hoax lies had caused.
Mr Jones may have finally been held accountable, but can he be forced to pay?
The $1bn damages verdicts
In August, a jury awarded Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose six-year-old son Jesse Lewis died at Sandy Hook, nearly $50m in punitive and compensatory damages in Austin, Texas.
It was the first time Mr Jones has been held financially liable for spreading baseless lies that the nation’s worst school shooting had been staged.
His attorney has appealed the damages amount, and Mr Jones has claimed he can’t afford to pay.
However, Mr Jones admitted he had flown to Connecticut by private jet during cross-examination, suggesting his resources may still be significant.
In July, Mr Jones’ company Free Speech Systems LLC filed for bankruptcy protection, further complicating efforts to force him to pay the damages awards.
The Sandy Hook families have said they are concerned that Mr Jones will continue to take money from the Infowars parent company, while using the bankruptcy to avoid paying court judgments.
Mr Jones took $62m from the Free Speech Systems while burdening it with $65m in “fabricated” debt to another company owned by him and his parents.
Legal experts told Reuters Mr Jones could end up paying as little as 10 per cent of the $45m in punitive damages initially awarded to parents.
Even though juries have broad discretion to award damages, Texas law caps punitive damages at $750,000 when the plaintiffs have not suffered economic loss, Reuters noted.
A judge will rule on whether the damages can be capped, but Texas Supreme Court precedent states that the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages should only exceed single digits in rare cases.
Mr Jones’ attorney Norm Pattis is likely to appeal the damages award and the damages amount awarded by the jury in Connecticut.
This will delay efforts to compel Mr Jones to pay the damages.
How did the jury decide how much to award the Sandy Hook families?
Victims’ attorney Chris Mattei suggested a damages award of at least $550m, as Mr Jones and Infowars had received an estimated 550 million views from their Sandy Hook hoax content on social media accounts from 2012 to 2018.
This estimate was provided by a plaintiffs expert witness who testified during the trial to having reviewed the content.
“Every single one of these families were drowning in grief, and Alex Jones put his foot right on top of them,” Mr Mattei said.
Judge Barbara Bellis instructed the jury while there were no mathematical formulas for determining damages, they should use their common sense to award an amount that was “fair, just and reasonable.”
The jury, however, heard evidence and testimony that Mr Jones made millions of dollars from selling nutritional supplements and doomsday survival supplies.
A company representative testified it has made at least $100m in the past decade.
The jury ultimately awarded the families in the Connecticut defamation trial $965m – far exceeding what the plaintiffs had sought.
Whether Mr Jones ends up paying anything like that sum is likely to be decided in future civil and bankruptcy cases.
The jury had to decide both compensatory and punitive damages for both past and future suffering.
Compensatory damages are designed to reimburse people for actual financial loss such as medical bills and income loss, and also for emotional distress.
The families told of experiencing death threats, social media harassment, and even strangers recording them and their surviving children. Some moved away from Newtown to escape
Whereas punitive damages are meant to punish a person for their conduct. If the jury decides Jones should pay punitive damages, the judge would determine the amount.
Under Connecticut laws, punitive damages are usually capped to legal expenses. The state does not limit compensatory damage amounts, the Associated Press notes.
An expert witness in the Texas trial suggested Mr Jones’ net wealth is likely to be around $270m.
Bernard Pettingill Jr, a forensic economist who testified during the previous trial, said nearly $70m was moved from Free Speech Systems to Jones’ own bank accounts.
At its height in 2018, Infowars was bringing in more than $800,000 per day, according to Mr Pettingill. This was largely due to advertising deals he had with doomsday preparation companies selling buckets of food and water purification tablets.
His income fell after Facebook, YouTube and Spotify deplatformed him in August 2018.
Despite his vast wealth, Mr Jones has tried to paint himself and his businesses as struggling to his viewers.
He claimed to the judge in Texas that any award over $2m would “sink” him.
If he refuses to pay the damages claim, the families could move to bankrupt Mr Jones, force him to sell assets and ban him from running a company.
The Free Speech Systems bankruptcy case is working its way through the courts in Texas.
What comes next?
A third trial in Texas involving the parents of another child slain at Sandy Hook was expected to begin near the end of the year.
That case has been delayed by his company’s bankruptcy.
Mr Jones may yet face legal scrutiny for his role in the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.
During the Texas trial, Mr Jones’ attorneys inadvertently sent files containing two years of text message, legal strategy notes and medical records to prosecutors.
The families’ lawyer, Mark Bankston, said he had turned the texts over to the January 6 House committee, which may make criminal referrals to the Justice Department.
Mr Jones has close ties to far-right extremist groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, whose members have been charged with seditious conspiracy and attacking Capitol police officers.
