A jury in Connecticut has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and the parent company of Infowars to pay $965 million to eight families who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, as well as an FBI agent who was at the scene, for repeatedly lying that the massacre was a hoax.
On Wednesday, a jury in Waterbury found Jones liable for defamation after saying the shooting was “manufactured” and that the parents who lost their children in the massacre were actors, The New York Times, CNN and the Associated Press report.
Just after 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 14, 2012, 20 children and six adults were fatally shot in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history and the first at an elementary school.
While they grappled with the shocking massacre, Jones was telling his millions of followers on his media platforms that the shooting was a “false flag” operation staged by crisis actors posing as grieving parents to strengthen gun control laws.
Jones’ legions of fans believed his fabrications and he and his parent company, Free Speech Systems, made millions of dollars.
Victims’ families then became the targets of harassment and death threats.
Erica Lafferty, who lost her mother, Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung, in the shooting, testified that people motivated by Jones’ lies threatened to rape her, the AP reports.
Mark Barden said people who believed the shooting was a hoax said they urinated on the grave of his 7-year-old son, Daniel, and said they were going to dig up his grave, according to the AP.
The jury decided Wednesday that the money will be divided among 14 family members of the eight victims and FBI agent William Aldenberg, who was also harassed by conspiracy theorists. (People)