Sandy Hook Elementary school parents of a 6 year old who was among the murdered in the 2012 massacre of twenty children and six adults have won a huge victory today. A jury in Texas has awarded them $45.2 million against conspiracy theorist and right wing blowhard Alex Jones for raving on and on that the killings never happened, or were staged.
The $45.2 million is punitive damages. Yesterday, Jones was hit with another $4.1 million in damages to the Sandy Hook families.
Jones is the purveyor of “InfoWars,” a TV show (now not seen except on the internet) in which his many crazy, hurtful, and harmful lies about the Sandy Hook killings, the Parkland children, Hillary Clinton, and so on were like a noxious gas released into the atmosphere.
The judge also declared also said that she will not stop the parents’ lawyers from giving Jones’ text messages — which were accidentally sent to them during the trial — to law enforcement and the Jan. 6 committee. The revelation of the text messages rocked the courtroom this week. If Jones’s evident evil wasn’t always apparent, this information sealed his doom.
Jones told the jury earlier that any judgement over $2 million would “ruin” him. But it was also revealed that he’s worth almost $270 million, money he’s made spouting out and out lies. The 6 year’s old parents, Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, sued Jones for defamation after he accused them of being part of a government “false flag” operation to fake the shooting in Newtown, Conn., supposedly to support gun control laws.
These judgements should significantly shake up right wing radio and the internet, which is filled with this nonsense day and night. You hear it here in New York all over the radio, and it’s shocking. Rush Limbaugh, now mercifully dead, was a huge proponent of such lies. If nothing else, this should give the folks at Fox News, who bloviate their garbage nightly, a chill.
Will this be the end of Jones? We can only hope that these awards, which he will appeal certainly, finish him off for good. Last week, Jones’s company, Free Speech Systems filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing revealed that Jones’s backers had taken at least $62 million out of the business. Jones declared victory today because the parents had asked for $150 million. He is very sick man.
In a statement, Mark Bankston, the attorney representing the parents, said that his clients “are thrilled with the result and look forward to putting Mr. Jones’ money to good use. Mr. Jones on the other hand will not sleep easy tonight. With punitive damages still to be decided and multiple additional defamation lawsuits pending, it is clear that Mr Jones’ time on the American stage is finally coming to an end.”
