Connecticut

A Connecticut judge has ruled that Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay USD 473 million for his defamatory claims about the Sandy Hook mass shooting.

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Jones falsely claimed that victims of Sandy Hook mass shooting were actors who staged the shooting at the behest of US government that allegedly plotted to seize Americans' guns.

In a separate order late Wednesday (November 09), the judge, Barbara Bellis, temporarily blocked Jones from moving any personal assets out of the country. The ruling came at the request of the plaintiffs, who claim Jones is trying to hide assets to avoid paying.

Jones is now on the hook for a total of $1.49 billion in damages in two Sandy Hook defamation cases that went to trial this year. A third case is pending in Texas.

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Right to bear arms are enshrined in US Constitution and gun lobby wields enormous political power in the country. Easily available arms are often topic of debate that gets renewed every time a mass shooting takes place.

On December 14, 2012, a gunman murdered his mother, then killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School before killing himself. The conspiracy theories amplified by Infowars on its website, social media and a show hosted by Jones led to years of threats and other harassment of the parents of the murdered children.

In their request for punitive damages, the plaintiffs said Jones should pay the maximum penalty available for the "historic" scale of his wrongdoing and "utter lack of repentance." Jones has since acknowledged the shooting took place but refused to apologize to the families during his trial testimony.

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In a statement, plaintiffs' attorney Chris Mattei said the ruling "serves to reinforce the message of this case: Those who profit from lies targeting the innocent will face justice.”

Jones' lawyer, Norm Pattis, said in a statement that "the verdict was tragedy, this latest ruling is farce. It makes our work in appeal that much easier.”

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