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Infowars founder Alex Jones must pay the family of Jesse Lewis, a 6-year-old victim of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, $4.1 million, an Austin jury decided Thursday afternoon.
The decision came in a defamation trial against Jones, who theorized that the shooting — which left 20 children and six teachers dead — was a hoax meant to destabilize the gun industry.
“Today we secured $4.1 million on behalf of Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis,” attorney Mark Bankston told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Having already secured $1.5 million in fines from Mr. Jones, the plaintiffs are now due $5.6 million that Alex Jones will have to pay them.”
The Texas jury must still decide how much to award in punitive damages.
Alex Jones attempts to answer questions about his text messages asked by Mark Bankston, lawyer for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, during trial at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas, on Aug. 3, 2022.
(Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool, File)
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis suing Jones, were seeking at least $150 million in damages. Jones’ attorney had asked the jury to limit damages to $8 — one dollar for each of the compensation charges they are considering — and Jones himself said any award over $2 million “would sink” him and his company.
SANDY HOOK FAMILIES FILE SUIT AGAINST INFOWARS’ ALEX JONES
“Neil and Scarlett are thrilled with the result and look forward to putting Mr. Jones’ money to good use,” Bankston said. “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.”
The parents testified Tuesday about how they’ve endured a decade of trauma, inflicted first by the murder of their son and what followed: gun shots fired at a home, online and phone threats, and harassment on the street by strangers. They said the threats and harassment were all fueled by Jones and his conspiracy theory spread to his followers via his website Infowars.
“It seems so incredible to me that we have to do this — that we have to implore you, to punish you — to get you to stop lying,” Lewis told Jones.
An attorney representing two parents who sued Jones over his false claims about the Sandy Hook massacre says the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee has requested two years’ worth of records from Jones’ phone.
((Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman)
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Thursday’s ruling marked the first time the Infowars host has been held financially liable for repeatedly claiming the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history was a hoax.
It might not be the last such judgment against him, as a judge in Connecticut has already ruled against him in a similar lawsuit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
