Alex Jones to pay Sandy Hook parents nearly $50M in total | USA TODAY

A jury ordered Alex Jones to pay $49.3 million to the parents of a boy who was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.

RELATED: Alex Jones damages: $4 million for Sandy Hook parents, jury says

A Texas jury on Friday ordered Infowars' Alex Jones to pay $49.3 million in total damages to the parents of a first-grader killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, which the conspiracy theorist falsely called a hoax orchestrated by the government to tighten U.S. gun laws.

The amount is less than the $150 million sought by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 children and six educators killed in the deadliest classroom shooting in U.S. history. The trial is the first time Jones has been held financially liable for peddling lies about the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut.

Jurors at first awarded Heslin and Lewis $4.1 million in compensatory damages, which Jones called a major victory. But in the final phase of the two-week trial, the same Austin jury came back and tacked on an additional $45.2 million in punitive damages.

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44 comments

    1. @eric gisse it’s all a lie and if you disagree you are a groomer and that’s muh 1st amendment right!

    2. @Hunter Rokop do you think there are people behind the scenes staging this entire court case? i find that a big stretch

    1. @RainWhenIDie because legally libel involves provable financial loss. Like you didn’t get a job or got fired over a probably false accusation.

      They went the emotional distress route stating his words a decade ago inspired people to harass them to this very day. I think this is flawed left wing logic to the highest order, he should be able to speak his mind and if crazies do something extreme over it that’s on them. It’s about personal responsibility.

    2. @Dr. House while they’re at it they should see his interview at ground zero and the one where he pretends to be reunited with his son at the LA X shooting

    3. @Baron Vonsnazzy You are wrong though- libel, slander, defamation are not contingent only on financial losses. This can be part of it, but damage to reputation through false statements can be a cause for defamation charge. This is not a recent development or tied to the ‘crazy left wing’. It’s been around for centuries. So in this case the jury found Alex’s statements to be injurious, hence the verdict.

    1. Probably not much. Courts don’t look lightly on people who use stall tactics such that Jones tried over the past few years.

  1. Love it how the Judge did everything she could to not smile and burst out laughing when reading the verdict!

  2. With 50mil theyll buy plenty of properties, forget their previous losses, and make more SH babies.

    1. @eric gisse GRADUATED LAW SCHOOL (JD 1994); MASTERS DEGREE PUBLIC POLICY & ADMIN 1996 and PHD/ABD 1999.

    2. Exactly, you’re not gonna sue me if say you and your kids’ DNA are not a match. But imagine if I remind you the same everyday for several years!

    3. Almost like asking anyone here what happened at the vegas massacre. Then show them the video recorded, and ask again.

  3. why dont they show that crisis actor that was smiling and laughing on camera before crying about his dead son?

    1. I’m glad I’m not the one who remembers that. Guy was laughing and cutting up until he realized the camera was on him, then he suddenly became somber.

    2. Considering how easy you people are to manipulate, it probably wasn’t even related to the actual event. It was probably a random video with big letters making a claim and you all took it as fact.
      That’s far more likely than what you actually claimed.

  4. If you don’t have you can’t pay it. Sometimes it’s best to determine the net worth and deduct 25%. Better chance of getting something. We should sue everyone in DC daily.

  5. I’m no fan but I don’t care who you are you should be able to say whatever you want and not be sued for speech.

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