Posted on 11/15/2021 3:10:47 PM PST by EBH
A Connecticut judge has found Infowars owner and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones liable in a defamation case brought by families of the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre.
The judge in the case ruled that because Jones failed to produce documents he had been ordered to hand over by the court, including his financial records, he was liable by default, The New York Times reported on Monday.
The families of 10 victims in the 2012 mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school sued the far-right media personality for defamation in 2019 after he suggested on his program the assault, which left 26 people dead, including 20 children, was a "hoax" staged by crisis actors in order to drum up opposition to the Second Amendment.
The Connecticut ruling follows a similar decision from a Texas judge in September, which found Jones responsible in two lawsuits for damages resulting from his claims about the shooting.
The families have argued Jones has profited off of lies about the shooting.
When Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis sanctioned Jones in the Connecticut case, she called his on-air statements about the shooting "indefensible," "unconscionable" and "possibly criminal behavior."
In a statement issued on Monday, a law firm that represents the Sandy Hook families said they were "grateful" for the ruling but remain "focused on uncovering the truth" about Jones's activities.
A Connecticut judge has found Infowars owner and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones liable in a defamation case brought by families of the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre.
The judge in the case ruled that because Jones failed to produce documents he had been ordered to hand over by the court, including his financial records, he was liable by default, The New York Times reported on Monday.
The families of 10 victims in the 2012 mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school sued the far-right media personality for defamation in 2019 after he suggested on his program the assault, which left 26 people dead, including 20 children, was a "hoax" staged by crisis actors in order to drum up opposition to the Second Amendment.
The Connecticut ruling follows a similar decision from a Texas judge in September, which found Jones responsible in two lawsuits for damages resulting from his claims about the shooting.
The families have argued Jones has profited off of lies about the shooting.
When Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis sanctioned Jones in the Connecticut case, she called his on-air statements about the shooting "indefensible," "unconscionable" and "possibly criminal behavior."
In a statement issued on Monday, a law firm that represents the Sandy Hook families said they were "grateful" for the ruling but remain "focused on uncovering the truth" about Jones's activities.
"As the Court noted, Alex Jones and his companies have deliberately concealed evidence of the relationship between what they publish and how they make money," the lawyers said. "Mr. Jones was given every opportunity to comply but, when he chose instead to withhold evidence for more than two years, the Court was left with no choice but to rule as it did today. While today's ruling is a legal victory, the battle to shed light on how deeply Mr. Jones has harmed these families continues."
After the Texas ruling, Jones issued a statement through his Infowars website, calling the decision a devastating blow to the First Amendment.
"Nothing less than the fundamental right to speak freely is at stake in these cases," the statement read. "It is not overstatement to say the first amendment was crucified today.”
The cases in both states will now head to juries, which will decide how much Jones should have to pay the families of the victims in damages and legal fees, the Times noted.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misstated the judge's ruling. Jones was found liable in the civil case. Updated at 5:43 p.m.
Because he said things that he knew were false. His words caused great pain and suffering. He’s being sued for the liable and the pain caused
His accusations were and are outlandish
Yep, I realized this immediately after I posted. The “public figure” standard has also been brought up before on the Mark Levin show.
"Causing pain and suffering" from words is legally actionable? So we can sue people for hurting our feelings? Ridiculous. Did he KNOW they were false, or is he conspiratory-minded and believed the "crisis actor" videos that circulated, many of whom were and remain (if you can even find them) disturbing.
Patriots don’t slander parents of murdered kids
In real life, someone's responses to a traumatic event like loosing a child in a mass murder is not what movies and TV show. People will going on a out of control emotional roller coaster due to the shock of what happened.
People will act weird during and after traumatic events where they are completely powerless. Hollywood has conditioned people to think that everyone will just sit down and cry or go into police/military first aid mode. That is far from reality.
Jones didn't see what he wanted to see, the news didn't show what he wanted them to show, so he started making assumptions and accusations he could not back up. Calling a parent of a murdered children "crisis actors" went way too far and he was going to get the hell sued out of himself for it.
Did you see the aerial video of the crowd? You see the same line of people walking through a door to the outside, circling the building, walking back in, and then exiting the same way to walk around the building again. At ground level — for the benefit of a news camera, for example — it would look like your usual milling about after some disaster or other. But the aerial view is exceedingly weird.
I wasn’t following Alex Jones then so I didn’t watch any of his videos. Do you have links to the video or key words to search for it?
I watched it at the time, but didn’t save the links. It’s been awhile.
He is being sued for liable
Cut him some slack…the left hates him and he made one mistake.
There WAS a lot of weirdness surrounding that horrible event.
He told lies lots of them and apparently slandered people. But there are some on FreeRepublic who still thinks the guy’s poop doesn’t stink.
When you need the facts, Alex Jones is not a reliable person regarding facts.
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