Infowars founder Alex Jones responds to a Texas jury that ordered him to pay $4.1 million in defamation damages in the Sandy Hook case.
According to the breaking story by the Associated Press Thursday, the jury only deliberated for several hours before delivering their order Thursday. Eight of the ten jury members signed the verdict.
Initially, Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin asked for $150 million in damages when the trial began.
However, Jurors must still decide how much punitive damages are owed to Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who died in the attack, according to the Associated Press.
Jones on other hand says that the $4.1 million will bankrupt his company. Jones responded by admitting that he was wrong about Sandy Hook, and apologized to the families. He claims that edited videos were shown to the families and to the jury in an attempt to make him look worse.
Our friends from The Gateway Pundit reported Jone’s response on Thursday’s verdict:
Alex Jones responded on Thursday.
“I admitted I was wrong. I admitted it was a mistake. I admitted that I followed 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,” Alex Jones said.
BREAKING: A jury ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay more than $4 million in compensatory damages to Sandy Hook parents. It still must decide punitive damages. https://t.co/hCaHP052d0
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 4, 2022
The ‘Associated Press’ is the first to broke this story:
A Texas jury Thursday ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay more than $4 million — significantly less than the $150 million being sought — in compensatory damages to the parents of a 6-year-old boy killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, marking the first time the Infowars host has been held financially liable for repeatedly claiming the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history was a hoax.
The Austin jury must still decide how much the Infowars host should pay in punitive damages to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 children and six educators who were killed in the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut.
The parents had sought at least $150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jones’ attorney asked the jury to limit damages to $8 — one dollar for each of the compensation charges they considered — and Jones himself said any award over $2 million “would sink us.”
It likely won’t be the last judgment against Jones — who was not in the courtroom — over his claims that the attack was staged in the interests of increasing gun controls. A Connecticut judge has ruled against him in a similar lawsuit brought by other victims’ families and an FBI agent who worked on the case. He also faces another trial in Austin.
Breaking News: After deliberating for less than a day, a jury ordered Alex Jones to pay over $4 million in compensatory damages to the parents of a child killed in the Sandy Hook massacre. The jury will return tomorrow to consider punitive damages. https://t.co/xVG5Ek5b8f
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 4, 2022
A #Texas jury ordered #AlexJones to pay $4.1 million to the parents of a boy killed in the #SandyHook mass shooting, marking the first time he has been held financially liable for spreading the false claim that the shooting was a hoax. https://t.co/09HEODmbjf
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) August 5, 2022
A jury has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay £3.3m in damages to the parents of a six-year-old boy who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacrehttps://t.co/uWRTd6TGIm pic.twitter.com/mo2pUsIyR9
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 5, 2022
Like him or hate him, folks online have noticed that Jones may be being used to make an example of…
Constant harping that speech causes ‘harm’ is part of long run effort to criminalize inconvenient opinion. Been saying this for long time. And this is how to view Alex Jones. They are setting a precedent, taking easy case to build law that prohibits challenging narratives.
— FischerKing (@FischerKing64) August 4, 2022
I’m asking sincerely because I do not know. How did Alex Jones harm the Sandy Hook parents or families? He stated a stupid opinion on an internet show. What damaged did it cause?
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) August 4, 2022
Something has gone very, very wrong when it’s easier to get hold of Alex Jones’s text messages than texts from federal agencies (Secret Service, DOD, Homeland Security) who are legally required to preserve them.
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) August 5, 2022
Alex Jones
“What’s used against me will be used against you.” pic.twitter.com/vQOWmndncC— Ultra MAGA Gang CCG (@UltraMagaCCG) August 5, 2022
And in an exclusive video, Infowars posted the official response of Jones where he explains what the verdict means for Infowars and Americans.
You can watch the official response of Alex Jones here: Banned/Videos
Sources: WLT, Associated Press, Gateway Pundit
