Alex Jones Mocks Jury Ordering Him to Pay $1 Billion to Sandy Hook Families

A jury has found InfoWars founder Alex Jones liable for $965 million worth of damages in a defamation suit brought by the family members of eight victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting.

The verdict, delivered on Wednesday, comes after Jones was ordered to pay $45.2 million to families in a separate case in August. He now owes families of the victims over $1 billion.

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Robbie Parker, whose six-year-old daughter was killed in the shooting, received $120 million alone for defamation and emotional distress.

Jones did not take the verdict seriously, mocking the damages on InfoWars. “Do these people actually think they’re getting any of this money?” he asked.

In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre, in which 20 children and 6 administrators were killed, Jones claimed the shooting was a “hoax” and that the murdered children and their families were “crisis actors.” In both of the trials against Jones, family members and law enforcement officials have testified to the barrage of harassment they experienced at the hands of InfoWars viewers. Jackie Barden, whose son Daniel was killed in the shooting, testified in Connecticut about receiving letters from people claiming to have urinated on her son’s grave and threatening to dig up his body.

Barden was awarded $28.8 million on Wednesday. Mark Barden was awarded $57.6 million.

Another victim’s mother, Nicole Hockley, described being sent death threats and photos of dead children, and how the resulting stress led her to sleep with a knife and baseball bat near her bed for fear of an attack.

Hockley was awarded $73.6 million on Wednesday. Ian Hockely was awarded $81.6 million.

Robbie and Alissa Parker recalled how Jones held a broadcast the day of their daughter’s funeral, accusing them of “staging it” and of reading cue cards at a press conference several days before.

Jones was combative throughout the trial, forcing the removal of the jury from the courtroom several times and claiming the trial to be little more than “a deep state” situation. “Is this a struggle session?” he exclaimed late last month. “Are we in China? I’ve already said I’m sorry, and I’m done saying I’m sorry.”

The conspiracy theorist’s disparagement of the proceedings continued outside the court, where Jones at one point told reporters that it was “not really a trial” but “a literal kangaroo court.” Jones’ attorney kicked the trial off by claiming his client is the real victim in the case, describing him as a “scapegoat” and “whipping boy.”

As with the previous trial in Austin, Texas, Jones had already been found guilty of defamation by default judgment, with the jury trial serving to determine the amount owed in damages. Families suing Jones have accused the conspiracy theorist of hiding his assets in an attempt to skirt reduce his own liability. In July, InfoWars parent company Free Speech Systems LLC made an emergency bankruptcy filing, despite investigations revealing that InfoWars had raked in upwards of 160 million dollars between 2015 and 2018. Jones had previously bragged about his maneuvering to avoid paying damages. He doesn’t seem to think he’s going to have to pay the damages awarded Wednesday, either. “Do these people actually think they’re getting any of this money?” he asked on InfoWars.

Jones said he plans to appeal the verdict, but it will likely be difficult for him to maneuver his way out of paying the more than $1 billion dollars he now owes to the families of the victims.

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