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Ariana Baio
Oct 12, 2022
Alex Jones trail: Sandy Hook families react as jury award them $965m …
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Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones exasperatedly said he must be in "Hell" as he was ordered to pay the families of Sandy Hook victims nearly $1 billion in damages.
On Wednesday, the jury in Jones' second defamation trial awarded the families of eight victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and one FBI agent, $965 million.
Taking to his website InfoWars, Jones sat red-faced while watching the verdict be delivered.
"This must be what Hell's like, they just read out the damages even though you don't got the money," Jones said.
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For years, Jones pushed lies about the Sandy Hook shooting claiming it was a false flag by the government and accusing victims' families of being "actors".
Families and the FBI agent who responded to the shooting said they were threatened in person and online.
\u201cAlex Jones after his billion dollar damages verdict: "They want to scare us away from question Uvalde or Parkland. We're not going away. We're not going to stop."\n\nHe's now selling "vitamineral fusion" from the InfoWars store.\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1665603686
The damages awarded are the second in a series of defamation trials Jones has faced.
In the first trial earlier this year, Jones was ordered to pay nearly $50 million in punitive and compensatory damages to the families of one victim.
Jones is awaiting damages in a third defamation trial he lost to the parents of another victim.
The 48-year-old filed for bankruptcy, claiming he could not pay the damages.
"They want to scare us away from questioning Uvalde or Parkland," Jones said in his live stream. "We're not going away. We're not going to stop."
The conspiracy theorist then asked viewers to donate money to him to make appeals.
\u201cWatching the Sandy Hook verdict live from his studio, Alex Jones makes an urgent plea to his audience for cash, and tells them that none of the money they send him will go the the families because he has filed for bankruptcy.\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1665604772
Meanwhile, in the courtroom, the families of the victims cried and hugged as the judge read out the verdict.
The nearly $1bn in damages will be divided among 14 relatives of eight Sandy Hook victims and the FBI agent who responded to the shooting.
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