Alex Jones
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3 point Something in damges. They tried for 45.
Oh well. Nothing more vitamins and pillows cant buy.
Alex Jones ordered to pay $965 million for Sandy Hook lies
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Dave Collins
Publishing date:Oct 12, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 5 minute read • 43 Comments
WATERBURY, Conn. — Jurors ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Wednesday to pay nearly $1 billion to Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims’ relatives and an FBI agent, who said he turned their loss and trauma into years of torment by promoting the lie that the rampage was a hoax.
The $965 million verdict is the second big judgment against the Infowars host for spreading the myth that the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history never happened, and that the grieving families seen in news coverage were actors hired as part of a plot to take away people’s guns.
The verdict came in a defamation lawsuit filed by some of the families of 26 people who were killed in the 2012 shooting, plus an FBI agent who was among the first responders. A Texas jury in August awarded nearly $50 million to the parents of another slain child.
Robbie Parker, who lost his 6-year-old daughter, Emilie, said outside the Connecticut court that he was proud that “what we were able to accomplish was just to simply tell the truth.”
“And it shouldn’t be this hard, and it shouldn’t be this scary,” said Parker, who became an early target of conspiracy theorists after he spoke at a news conference the day after the shooting. The jury awarded him the most of any plaintiff: $120 million.
Jones wasn’t at court but reacted on his Infowars show.
As courtroom video showed the jury awards being read out, Jones said that he himself had never mentioned the plaintiffs’ names.
“All made up. Hilarious,” he said. “So this is what a show trial looks like. I mean, this is the left completely out of control.”
Jones’ lawyer, Norm Pattis, portrayed the trial as unfair and pledged to appeal.
“Today is a very, very, very dark day for freedom of speech,” he said outside court.
The jury awarded various sums to the victims’ relatives, who testified that they were threatened and harassed for years by people who believed the lies told on Jones’ show. Strangers showed up at the families’ homes to record them. People hurled abusive comments on social media.
Mark Barden testified that conspiracy theorists urinated on the grave of his 7-year-old son, Daniel, and threatened to dig up the coffin; Barden and his wife were together awarded about $86 million. Now-retired FBI Agent William Aldenberg, awarded $90 million, described the horror he saw at the school as he responded alongside other law enforcement, and his outrage at seeing online claims that he was an actor.
Erica Lafferty, the daughter of slain Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung, testified that people mailed rape threats to her house.
“I wish that after today, I can just be a daughter grieving my mother and stop worrying about the conspiracy theorists,” Lafferty said outside court. But she predicted that Jones’ “hate, lies and conspiracy theories will follow both me and my family through the rest of our days.”
To plaintiff William Sherlach, the verdict “shows that the internet is not the wild, wild West, and that your actions have consequences.”
He had testified about seeing online posts that falsely posited that the shooting was a hoax; that his slain wife, school psychologist Mary Sherlach, never existed; that he was part of a financial cabal and somehow involved with the school shooter’s father; and more. He told jurors the shooting deniers’ vitriol made him worry for his family’s safety.
“Going forward — because, unfortunately, there will be other horrific events like this — people like Alex Jones will have to rethink what they say,” Sherlach said.
Testifying during the trial, Jones acknowledged he had been wrong about Sandy Hook. The shooting was real, he said. But in the courtroom and on his show, he was defiant.
He called the proceedings a “kangaroo court,” mocked the judge, called the plaintiffs’ lawyer an ambulance chaser and labeled the case an affront to free speech rights. He claimed it was a conspiracy by Democrats and the media to silence him and put him out of business.
“I’ve already said ‘I’m sorry’ hundreds of times, and I’m done saying I’m sorry,” he told jurors.
Twenty children and six adults died in the shooting on Dec. 14, 2012; relatives of five children and three educators sued in Connecticut. The trial was held at a courthouse in Waterbury, about 20 miles (32 kilometres) from Newtown, where the attack took place.
The lawsuit accused Jones and Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, of using the mass killing to build his audience and make millions of dollars. Experts testified that Jones’ audience swelled, as did his revenue from product sales, when he made Sandy Hook a topic on the show.
In both the Texas and Connecticut lawsuits, judges found the company liable for damages by default after Jones failed to cooperate with court rules on sharing evidence, including failing to turn over records that might have showed whether Infowars had profited from knowingly spreading misinformation about mass killings.
Because he was already found liable, Jones was barred from mentioning free speech rights and other topics during his testimony.
Jones now faces a third trial, in Texas, in a lawsuit filed by the parents of another child killed in the shooting.
It is unclear how much of the verdicts Jones can afford to pay. During the trial in Texas, he testified he couldn’t afford any judgment over $2 million, and his lawyers plan to appeal and try to reduce the damages there. Free Speech Systems has filed for bankruptcy protection.
But an economist testified in the Texas proceeding that Jones and his company were worth as much as $270 million.
A lawyer for the families in the Connecticut case, Josh Koskoff, said that “if this verdict shuts down Alex Jones, good.”
“He’s been walking in the shadow of death to try to profit on the backs of people who have just been devastated,” Koskoff said. “That is not a business model that should be sustainable in the United States.”
— Associated Press journalists Jennifer Peltz in New York and Ted Shaffrey in Waterbury, Connecticut, contributed.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Dave Collins
Publishing date:Oct 12, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 5 minute read • 43 Comments
WATERBURY, Conn. — Jurors ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Wednesday to pay nearly $1 billion to Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims’ relatives and an FBI agent, who said he turned their loss and trauma into years of torment by promoting the lie that the rampage was a hoax.
The $965 million verdict is the second big judgment against the Infowars host for spreading the myth that the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history never happened, and that the grieving families seen in news coverage were actors hired as part of a plot to take away people’s guns.
The verdict came in a defamation lawsuit filed by some of the families of 26 people who were killed in the 2012 shooting, plus an FBI agent who was among the first responders. A Texas jury in August awarded nearly $50 million to the parents of another slain child.
Robbie Parker, who lost his 6-year-old daughter, Emilie, said outside the Connecticut court that he was proud that “what we were able to accomplish was just to simply tell the truth.”
“And it shouldn’t be this hard, and it shouldn’t be this scary,” said Parker, who became an early target of conspiracy theorists after he spoke at a news conference the day after the shooting. The jury awarded him the most of any plaintiff: $120 million.
Jones wasn’t at court but reacted on his Infowars show.
As courtroom video showed the jury awards being read out, Jones said that he himself had never mentioned the plaintiffs’ names.
“All made up. Hilarious,” he said. “So this is what a show trial looks like. I mean, this is the left completely out of control.”
Jones’ lawyer, Norm Pattis, portrayed the trial as unfair and pledged to appeal.
“Today is a very, very, very dark day for freedom of speech,” he said outside court.
The jury awarded various sums to the victims’ relatives, who testified that they were threatened and harassed for years by people who believed the lies told on Jones’ show. Strangers showed up at the families’ homes to record them. People hurled abusive comments on social media.
Mark Barden testified that conspiracy theorists urinated on the grave of his 7-year-old son, Daniel, and threatened to dig up the coffin; Barden and his wife were together awarded about $86 million. Now-retired FBI Agent William Aldenberg, awarded $90 million, described the horror he saw at the school as he responded alongside other law enforcement, and his outrage at seeing online claims that he was an actor.
Erica Lafferty, the daughter of slain Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung, testified that people mailed rape threats to her house.
“I wish that after today, I can just be a daughter grieving my mother and stop worrying about the conspiracy theorists,” Lafferty said outside court. But she predicted that Jones’ “hate, lies and conspiracy theories will follow both me and my family through the rest of our days.”
To plaintiff William Sherlach, the verdict “shows that the internet is not the wild, wild West, and that your actions have consequences.”
He had testified about seeing online posts that falsely posited that the shooting was a hoax; that his slain wife, school psychologist Mary Sherlach, never existed; that he was part of a financial cabal and somehow involved with the school shooter’s father; and more. He told jurors the shooting deniers’ vitriol made him worry for his family’s safety.
“Going forward — because, unfortunately, there will be other horrific events like this — people like Alex Jones will have to rethink what they say,” Sherlach said.
Testifying during the trial, Jones acknowledged he had been wrong about Sandy Hook. The shooting was real, he said. But in the courtroom and on his show, he was defiant.
He called the proceedings a “kangaroo court,” mocked the judge, called the plaintiffs’ lawyer an ambulance chaser and labeled the case an affront to free speech rights. He claimed it was a conspiracy by Democrats and the media to silence him and put him out of business.
“I’ve already said ‘I’m sorry’ hundreds of times, and I’m done saying I’m sorry,” he told jurors.
Twenty children and six adults died in the shooting on Dec. 14, 2012; relatives of five children and three educators sued in Connecticut. The trial was held at a courthouse in Waterbury, about 20 miles (32 kilometres) from Newtown, where the attack took place.
The lawsuit accused Jones and Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, of using the mass killing to build his audience and make millions of dollars. Experts testified that Jones’ audience swelled, as did his revenue from product sales, when he made Sandy Hook a topic on the show.
In both the Texas and Connecticut lawsuits, judges found the company liable for damages by default after Jones failed to cooperate with court rules on sharing evidence, including failing to turn over records that might have showed whether Infowars had profited from knowingly spreading misinformation about mass killings.
Because he was already found liable, Jones was barred from mentioning free speech rights and other topics during his testimony.
Jones now faces a third trial, in Texas, in a lawsuit filed by the parents of another child killed in the shooting.
It is unclear how much of the verdicts Jones can afford to pay. During the trial in Texas, he testified he couldn’t afford any judgment over $2 million, and his lawyers plan to appeal and try to reduce the damages there. Free Speech Systems has filed for bankruptcy protection.
But an economist testified in the Texas proceeding that Jones and his company were worth as much as $270 million.
A lawyer for the families in the Connecticut case, Josh Koskoff, said that “if this verdict shuts down Alex Jones, good.”
“He’s been walking in the shadow of death to try to profit on the backs of people who have just been devastated,” Koskoff said. “That is not a business model that should be sustainable in the United States.”
— Associated Press journalists Jennifer Peltz in New York and Ted Shaffrey in Waterbury, Connecticut, contributed.
Alex Jones ordered to pay $965 million for Sandy Hook lies
Jurors ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay nearly $1 billion to Sandy Hook Elementary shooting victims’ relatives and FBI agent.
Old news
forums.canadiancontent.net
Black Lives Matter-Ugliness of Racism.
ah yes newsweek is twitter from that link: Newsweek article on fountain of youth blood transfusions caused social media to explode with admissions Jones has been right about everything. Can Blood from Young People Slow Aging? Silicon Valley Has Bet Billions It Will...
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the judgment was recently made.Old news
Black Lives Matter-Ugliness of Racism.
ah yes newsweek is twitter from that link: Newsweek article on fountain of youth blood transfusions caused social media to explode with admissions Jones has been right about everything. Can Blood from Young People Slow Aging? Silicon Valley Has Bet Billions It Will...
In a different trial.the judgment was recently made.
Pardon him, Spamodotus, he is a TV watcher, and thinks that all legal issues are wrapped up in one hour, minus ad time.
--Apologies to Shaw
Did Alex Jones do the shooting, or was he an accomplice? Because that's the only way this vedict makes sense to me. I get that the families were upset with his rhetoric. Stories of scum bags urinating on kids graves as families testified is utterly dispicable and beyond the pale. Morons harassing the families is completely unacceptable and there should be serious repercussions. But he didn't do these things.
I'm not defending Jones in any way, he's an idiot. But I fail to see how bankrupting him sooths the victims of the shooting or compensates their loss. It would be nice to see people be held accountable for their own actions rather than foist the blame on someone else and pretend this is justice served for the families.
I'd say you are, in a way. By focussing on what he did not do, you are implicitly denying the importance of what he did.
Defamation is not exactly a new thing. It's been part of the law for centuries. Until the 20th century, it was a crime as well as a civil cause of action.
That's what this is about - holding Alex Jones accountable for his actions and how it in turn affected these people.
"Morons harassing the families"... they weren't just pissing on graves and making phone calls.
They were threatening them.
People have moved multiple times and STILL are threatened with death.
Because Alex Jones has convinced them that they are 'crisis actors' and their kids didn't really die, because they didn't exist.
Look up what a cult is.
THAT is the kind of person who follows Alex Jones and who has done these things to these people.
We hold cult leaders responsible even if they don't do anything personally (Manson anyone?) so why is Alex so different?
The point is not the money, the point is holding the slimeball accountable for what he said and did.
I mean, holy frig, did you hear/see what he did the day the verdict was read? What he live streamed? By not holding him accountable, you ARE defending him.
You missed the point. I wasn't focusing on what he didn't do, I was bringing to light what others did, and how he is being made to account for their actions. It seems everyone has an excuse these days for their shitty, unacceptable behavior, they are never to blame....always someone else or something else. And I don't think it helps the grieving families, it definitely doesn't help society as a whole.
Why don't we just bring back public lynchings to satisfy the masses, it's no different. Or maybe we could bring in a daily "2 minutes hate". Maybe that will help.
And they should be held accountable for their despicable and illegal actions.
Nope, I don't wallow in crap, got better things to do. If he broke the law or defamed anyone, he should be held accountable.
Point missed...not surprised. Keep screeching though, maybe it will help.
Manson? Really? Was Jones living with and instructing people to kill?
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I agree, they should.
So should cult leader Alex Jones, which he is.
And yet, here you are, giving your apparently totally ignorant and uninformed opinion on it..?
Also, he is.
Nah, I got your point.
You're defending Jones because he "didn't do anything".
Except he did.
You just don't think it was worthy of being held accountable.
Other people disagree.
White, black, purple...
He's a disgusting piece of shit who denied children being murdered, and STILL denies it.
Are you saying he's right?
Nope. I really don't care what he said. The way I see it, it is the people that acted on what he said that should be charged/fined/whatever. I have better things to do than follow the rants of an idiot.
I was giving my opinion on the article posted above. Try to keep up, I know it's tough for you.
And taking issue with people making uninformed comments on a topic would make you a hypocrite, do you think you hold exclusive rights to that territory?
Trying to frame others in your demented perception of reality makes you look silly. Keep screeching.
So. . . somebody else defamed them? And poor little Alex is being persecuted?
Well, you have a point. Did you know the shooter, Adam Lanza, was never even prosecuted?