Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ordered to pay $965 million in damages to Sandy Hook victims' families

Connecticut

Alex Jones, the infamous conspiracy theorist, has been ordered by a jury in the United States to pay $965 million in damages to the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, where a gunman killed 20 children and six staff members.

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This is the second tranche of damages that Jones has been ordered to pay after a Texas court last year ordered the founder of InfoWars to pay $49.3 million to separate parents of the shooting incident.

The judgement followed a three-week trial where both parties gave testimonies in Waterbury, Connecticut. After nearly a decade of claiming that the Sandy Hook shooting was a staged government plot only to enforce gun control laws, Jones has acknowledged that the attack was 100 per cent real.

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As reported extensively by WION, Jones was found liable for damages in a trio of lawsuits last year. Since then, he has been running from pillar to post to plead his innocence.

Reportedly, in the final round of testimonies last week, Jones gave a rather impassioned speech and said, "I've already said I'm sorry hundreds of times, and I'm done saying I'm sorry."

The dramatic testimony managed to bring a few teary eyes in the courtroom but the six-member jury was not to be swayed.

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However, this is not the end of Jones' problems. He is expected to face a third defamation trial which takes place in Texas later this year, in connection with the shooting.

For years, Jones used lies to drive traffic to his Infowars website and managed to create a following. However, earlier this year, Free Speech Systems, the parent company of InfoWars filed for US bankruptcy protection.

(With inputs from agencies)

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