Alex Jones verdict: Sandy Hook families say ‘good prevails’ as Infowars conspiracist to pay $1billion
Follow for live updates
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A jury has awarded the relatives of Sandy Hook victims a combined $965m in damages after reaching their verdict in Alex Jones’ defamation trial on Wednesday afternoon.
The six-person panel spent more than three days deliberating how much the Infowars host must pay in damages to the plaintiffs - including 15 family members who lost loved ones in the 2012 shooting and a former FBI agent who responded to the scene.
Family members openly wept in court as the individual damages amounts were read out for each plaintiff.
“Good does prevail,” Nicole Hockley, who lost her son Dylan in the massacre, said outside court.
The highest individual damages award was $120m, which went to Robbie Parker, who lost his 6-year-old daughter Emilie in the shooting.
The sum of $965m in damages comes after a Texas jury awarded nearly $50m in damages against Mr Jones in a separate defamation trial.
As the damages verdict was read out in court, Mr Jones told viewers on his Infowars site: “I want to be the billion dollar man.”
Far-right extremist Alex Jones ordered to pay $965m to Sandy Hook victims’ families
‘I want to be the billion dollar man!’: Alex Jones cheers as he watches multimillion verdict against him live on Infowars show
What next for Alex Jones after Connecticut jury awards $965m to Sandy Hook families?Key moments from Alex Jones defamation trial
Sandy Hook families react emotionally to $965m Alex Jones ruling
Alex Jones still has to face a third damages trial
Alex Jones will face a third damages trial in Texas after losing a defamation suit to Lenny Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, parents of Noah Pozner, the youngest victim of the Sandy Hook shooting.
That is likely to take place towards the end of the year.
The Sandy Hook families are expected to speak soon outside court
We’re awaiting reaction from the Sandy Hook families after high drama in the Waterbury courthouse.
Robbie Parker says: ‘Everyone on the stand told the truth except for one'
In emotional scenes outside the courthouse in Connecticut, Robbie Parker said the experience should not have been so terrifying.
“Everyone on the stand told the truth except for one,” Mr Parker said.
“What has this man ever given me, and what has he taken from me?”
Read the full story of Mr Parker’s appearance in the witness stand below.
Sandy Hook father recalls press briefing that made him top target of Alex Jones’ lies
Robbie Parker told the court that he had been waiting to set the record straight ‘for a long time’
‘We are going to enforce this verdict'
Chris Mattei, an attorney for the families, says outside the courthouse that the verdict shows “the harm and wreckage that lies like the ones he pushed can have”.
“We believe (the verdict) is historic, and we are going to enforce this verdict. We are going to go through whatever forum we have to… as long as it takes, because that’s what justice requires.”
‘Good does prevail'
Nicole Hockley, who lost her son Dylan in the 2012 shooting, told reporters that she had taken comfort from being with the other Sandy Hook families in court.
“I have always believed in the goodness of other people. And when I first started engaging with followers of Alex Jones back in January of 2013, I was looking for the good. And I didn’t find it. And I gave up. Until I decided to fight.
“Today, with this jury, who I have so much gratitude for listening so attentively... for hearing us, I’m so grateful to them.
“This is sending the right message that people are good, and that good does prevail. And thank you restoring my faith.”
$965m verdict sends a message to ‘Alex Jones wannabes'
Bill Sherlach, whose wife was shot dead Mary after confronting the shooter, spoke a short time ago outside court.
“I’ve come to know these people over almost 10 years, these beautiful people, they’re good friends, under the worst, most horrendous situation you can imagine.
“And to belittle that horrific event was criminal in and of itself.
“We came in here with a default verdict, so we knew there would be some sort of statement coming out of this trial,” he said.
The jury responded “as we hoped they would for our entire community”, he said.
“It shows that the internet is not the wild, wild west, and that your actions have consequences.
“And for someone to stand in front of a camera probably right now as we’re speaking, to spew the lies to enrich himself, well now there’s a cost-benefit analysis that will have to be done. Because we’ve sent a response, we put a does of civility into the society that we really need at this point in time.
“Going forward, people like Alex Jones will have to rethink what they say, how they say it, how long they say it, and for those who want to be Alex Jones wannabes, this trial, this verdict set a pretty high hurdle in terms of what the cost will be to them, to enter into that realm of lies and deceit.”
What next for Alex Jones?
After damages awards of more than $1bn in two defamation damages trials, what comes next for Alex Jones?
A bankruptcy hearing for his company Free Speech Systems underway in Texas will go some way to determining how much the families can prise from the Infowars host.
An attorney for the Sandy Hook relatives says they will do whatever it takes to enforce the verdict.
Full story below.
What next for Alex Jones after Connecticut jury awards $965m to Sandy Hook families?
Alex Jones is worth an estimated $270m due to the financial success of his Infowars site
Jones' ‘realm of lies and deceit’
Sandy Hook families spoke emotionally outside of court after the jury awarded them nearly $1bn in damages on Wednesday.
“Everyone on the stand told the truth except for one,” said Robbie Parker, who the jury awarded $120m.
Bill Sherlach, whose wife Mary was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary, warned “Alex Jones’s wannabes” that there was now a cost of entering the “realm of lies and deceit.”
Sandy Hook families react emotionally to $965m Alex Jones ruling
Jones has now had more than $1bn in verdicts returned against him in two trials
WATCH: Sandy Hook families react as jury award them $965m in defamation case
The relatives of Sandy Hook victims openly wept in court as the jury awarded them $965m in the Alex Jones defamation case.
A panel of six people spent more than three days deliberating how much the Infowars host had to pay to the loved ones of victims killed in the 2012 school shooting, after Jones claimed they were actors.
Sandy Hook families react as jury award them $965m in defamation case
The relatives of Sandy Hook victims openly wept in court as the jury awarded them $965m in the Alex Jones defamation case. A panel of six people spent more than three days deliberating how much the Infowars host had to pay to the loved ones of victims killed in the 2012 school shooting, after Jones claimed they were actors. Robbie Parker, the first plaintiff who lost his six-year-old daughter in the shooting, held his head in his hands after that the jury awarded him $120m. Click here to sign up for our newsletters.
‘Alex Jones is finished'
“It took a jury in Connecticut to finally fell this beast,” writes Hannah Selinger for Independent Voices.
“No amount of fundraising can save Alex Jones now. One billion dollars is an insurmountable debt — as insurmountable, some might argue, as having to relive the death of your child over and over again in the public eye for almost an entire decade, without apology.”
As Alex Jones faces a $1bn comeuppance it looks like the good guys have won
The giant settlements against the Infowars conspiracist should give pause to those who wish to imitate him
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments