A Texas jury on Thursday ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay more than $4 million — significantly less than the $150 million sought — in damages to the parents of a 6-year-old boy killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, the first time the host of the Infowars website has been held financially responsible for repeatedly claiming that the deadliest school shooting in US history was staged.
The Austin jury is yet to decide how much Jones should pay in punitive damages to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis was among 20 children and six teachers who were killed in the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. .
The parents had sought at least $150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jones’s attorney asked the jury to limit the damages to $8 — $1 for each of the compensation charges they considered applying — and Jones himself said any damages over $2 million “would sink us.”
It probably won’t be the last verdict against Jones — who was not in the courtroom — over his allegations that the attack was staged with the intention of increasing gun control. A Connecticut judge has ruled against him in a similar lawsuit brought by families of other victims and an FBI agent who worked on the case. He also faces another trial in Austin.
Jones’ lead attorney, Andino Reynal, winked at his co-counsel before leaving court. He declined to comment on the verdict.
Outside the courtroom, the plaintiffs’ attorney, Mark Bankston, insisted that the $4.11 million amount is not disappointing, noting that it is only part of the damages Jones will have to pay.
The jury will return on Friday to hear more evidence about the Infowars host and the finances of his company.
In a video posted on his website Thursday night, Jones said the reduced compensation payout is a big win for him.
“I recognized that he was wrong. I recognized that it was a mistake. I acknowledged that I followed up on disinformation, but not on purpose. I apologized to the families. And the jury understood that. What I did to those families was wrong. But I didn’t do it on purpose,” he stated.
The severance payment is “more money than my company and I personally have, but we’re going to work to try and make restitution for it,” he added.