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On Friday, Infowars host Alex Jones was ordered by a Texas jury to pay $45 million in compensatory reparations to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of a 6-year-old who died in the 2012 Sandy Hook Massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. This is in addition to the $4 million he was ordered to pay the couple on Thursday.
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis had demanded $150 million from Jones, as he referred to the Sandy Hook school shooting as a hoax several times on his influential right-wing podcast, Infowars. The parents' attorneys claimed that Jones profited from his allegations that Sandy Hook and several other massacres were staged conspiracies used by the US government to clamp down on gun laws and thus control the populace.
The accusations against Alex Jones
According to the Independent, leaked texts between Alex Jones and his attorneys revealed that the Infowars host had made immense profits selling merchandise through his shows. Heslin and Lewis' attorneys claim that this directly resulted from the attention he received from conspiracy theories he spread about the Sandy Hook massacre.
In a CNN interview, Heslin and Lewis' attorney, Wesley Todd Ball, said that the trial should stand as an example to those who profit from spreading fake news.
He said:
"We ask that you send a very, very simple message, and that is, stop Alex Jones. Stop the monetization of misinformation and lies."
Jones claimed that the punishment was too harsh, as it would force Infowars to file for bankruptcy. In response, Ball said this was the intention, stating that it would ensure he could no longer maintain a platform.
Ball said:
"I ask that with your verdict, you not only take Alex Jones' platform that he talks about away. I ask that you make sure that he can't rebuild the platform. That's what matters."
He added:
"That is punishment, that is deterrence."
However, in light of the leaked texts, which revealed how much money Jones had genuinely made from the podcast, Ball acknowledged that even $45 million in punitive damages was not enough to undermine the influence of the Infowars host.
He said:
"He's probably already made it back in donations"
The attorney representing Jones, F. Andino Reynal, said in court that the punishment would not serve as a deterrent. In contrast to Ball, Reynal claimed that Jones played an important role in confronting the underhanded tactics allegedly used by the US government.
He said:
"Alex Jones will be on the air today, he'll be on the air tomorrow, he'll be on the air next week. He's going to keep doing his job holding the power structure accountable. That's our only statement."
On Wednesday, Jones said in court that the massacre was not a hoax. However, he has also stated in court that Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis are being used as tools by the government to undermine him.
