Alex Jones lawsuit verdict in Sandy Hook case is large enough to scare other conspiracy theorists
Alex Jones lawsuit verdict in Sandy Hook case is large enough to scare other conspiracy theorists
Alex Jones, host and creator of the far-right conspiracy-theory website Infowars, has received what is likely to be only the first of a series of expensive lessons about the importance of fact-checking.
On Thursday, a Texas jury ordered Jones to pay $4.1 million in compensatory damages to the parents of one child killed in the Sandy Hook massacre. The parents, Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, had sued Jones for defamation after Jones accused them of faking the death of their son in order to attack gun rights.
The size of the verdict validates the strategy of going after conspiracy theorists on grounds of defamation.
On Friday, in addition to the $4.1 million, meant to compensate Heslin and Lewis for the emotional trauma they suffered, the jury determined Jones would also have to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages. Punitive damages are awarded against defendants to punish them for their bad behavior.
This is not only a large blow to Jones, who has already filed for bankruptcy, but to other conspiracy-theory fomenters who fill their audiences’ heads with stories of the deep state, a stolen election and a child-sex ring in the basement of a pizza restaurant.
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