Alex Jones Ordered To Pay Nearly Half A Billion Dollars To Sandy Hook Families In Additional Punitive Damages

  A Connecticut judge on Thursday ordered right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay an additional $473 million in punitive damages for lying about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.   

  Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis awarded the families more than $323 million in common-law damages for attorney’s fees and costs and $150 million in damages under a state law called its Unfair Trade Practices Act Connecticut, which prohibits unfair competition and deceptive practices.   

  “The record also establishes that the defendants have engaged in repeated conduct and assaults on the plaintiffs for nearly a decade, including at trial, wanton, malicious and heinous conduct that has caused harm to the plaintiffs,” Bellis said in her ruling.  “This humiliation and the cruel, persistent behavior of the defendants establishes the highest degree of reprehensible and criminal responsibility.”   

  The huge sum of money is in addition to the $965 million a jury awarded to eight families of Sandy Hook victims and one first responder last month in damages.  Under Connecticut law, a judge determines the amount of punitive damages to be awarded.   

  Jones unfoundedly repeated after the 2012 mass shooting that killed 26 people that the incident was staged and that the families and first responders were “crisis agents.”   

  The lies prompted multiple lawsuits, and a trial was held in September and October for lawsuits filed in Connecticut.   

  The plaintiffs in that lawsuit throughout the trial described in painful terms how the lies had caused relentless harassment against them and compounded the emotional anguish of losing their loved ones.   

  CNN has reached out to Alex Jones’ attorney for comment.   

  It is unclear when or how much of the money the plaintiffs will eventually see.   

  Jones said he would appeal Connecticut’s original ruling and claimed there is “no money” to pay the huge amount the jury initially awarded the plaintiffs.   

  The decision in Connecticut came after a separate jury in Texas ruled that Jones and his company should award two Sandy Hook parents who sued that state nearly $50 million.   

  While Jones initially lied about the 2012 shooting, he later acknowledged the massacre had occurred as he faced multiple lawsuits.  However, he failed to comply with court orders during the discovery process of the Connecticut and Texas lawsuits, resulting in families in each state winning default judgments against him.   

title: “Alex Jones Ordered To Pay Nearly Half A Billion Dollars To Sandy Hook Families In Additional Punitive Damages " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-13” author: “Reginald Rothhaupt”

  A Connecticut judge on Thursday ordered right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay an additional $473 million in punitive damages for lying about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.   

  Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis awarded the families more than $323 million in common-law damages for attorney’s fees and costs and $150 million in damages under a state law called its Unfair Trade Practices Act Connecticut, which prohibits unfair competition and deceptive practices.   

  “The record also establishes that the defendants have engaged in repeated conduct and assaults on the plaintiffs for nearly a decade, including at trial, wanton, malicious and heinous conduct that has caused harm to the plaintiffs,” Bellis said in her ruling.  “This humiliation and the cruel, persistent behavior of the defendants establishes the highest degree of reprehensible and criminal responsibility.”   

  The huge sum of money is in addition to the $965 million a jury awarded to eight families of Sandy Hook victims and one first responder last month in damages.  Under Connecticut law, a judge determines the amount of punitive damages to be awarded.   

  Jones unfoundedly repeated after the 2012 mass shooting that killed 26 people that the incident was staged and that the families and first responders were “crisis agents.”   

  The lies prompted multiple lawsuits, and a trial was held in September and October for lawsuits filed in Connecticut.   

  The plaintiffs in that lawsuit throughout the trial described in painful terms how the lies had caused relentless harassment against them and compounded the emotional anguish of losing their loved ones.   

  CNN has reached out to Alex Jones’ attorney for comment.   

  It is unclear when or how much of the money the plaintiffs will eventually see.   

  Jones said he would appeal Connecticut’s original ruling and claimed there is “no money” to pay the huge amount the jury initially awarded the plaintiffs.   

  The decision in Connecticut came after a separate jury in Texas ruled that Jones and his company should award two Sandy Hook parents who sued that state nearly $50 million.   

  While Jones initially lied about the 2012 shooting, he later acknowledged the massacre had occurred as he faced multiple lawsuits.  However, he failed to comply with court orders during the discovery process of the Connecticut and Texas lawsuits, resulting in families in each state winning default judgments against him.