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☆ Inside Infowars' crumbling empire: Ex-Staffers reveal the 'volatile' and 'unhinged' atmosphere working for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Tom Porter | Ashley Collman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

One afternoon in the spring of 2017 Alex Jones furiously lunged at his video producer. According to Jacobson, Jones had to be restrained by another Infowars staffer lest he actually hurt him. Alex Jones did not respond to Insider's request for comment. Owens also said he felt guilty about his complicity in promoting the Sandy Hook conspiracy theories during his time working there. "People hearing the words Sandy Hook, they automatically think Alex Jones," she added.

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Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, on the hook for more than $1 billion because of lies he spread about the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, has filed for bankruptcy, court documents showed Friday. In seeking Chapter 11 protection, the Infowars host filed boilerplate bankruptcy documents in Texas, claiming he was worth $1 million to $10 million and had debts of $1 billion to $10 billion. Connecticut Judge Barbara Bellis later imposed punitive damages of $473 million for promoting those false conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook, bringing the bill to a staggering $1.44 billion. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Jones filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Houston, a court filing showed. The filing said Jones has between $1 million and $10 million of assets and between $1 billion and $10 billion of liabilities. In October, a Connecticut jury in a case brought by relatives of more than a dozen Sandy Hook victims ordered Jones and Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars, to pay nearly $1 billion in damages. Jones claimed for years that the 2012 killing of 20 students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was staged with actors as part of a government plot to seize Americans’ guns. In addition to the $1 billion compensatory damages, Jones was ordered to pay $473 million in punitive damages in the Connecticut case.

☆ Alex Jones Ordered to Pay $473 Million More for Sandy Hook Claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Erin Mulvaney | Jonathan Randles | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Connecticut judge ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay an additional $473 million in punitive damages for making defamatory claims that the Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax, bringing the total judgment against him in the case to $1.4 billion. Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis imposed the penalty Thursday on top of a nearly $1 billion jury verdict last month, which capped a weekslong trial to determine how much Mr. Jones should pay for claiming the 2012 massacre, where a gunman killed 20 children and 6 adults, was a government conspiracy.

New York CNN Business —A Connecticut judge on Thursday ordered right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay an additional $473 million in punitive damages over the lies he told about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Under Connecticut law, a judge determines the amount of punitive damages to award. The decision in Connecticut came after a separate jury in Texas determined that Jones and his company should award two Sandy Hook parents who sued in that state nearly $50 million. While Jones initially lied about the 2012 shooting, he later acknowledged that the massacre had occurred as he faced multiple lawsuits. But he failed to comply with court orders during the discovery process of the lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas, leading the families in each state to win default judgments against him.

☆ Alex Jones seeks new trial after $1B Sandy Hook verdict
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the 15 plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Jones, declined to comment on the filing Saturday, but said he and other attorneys for the Sandy Hook families will be filing a brief opposing Jones’ request. Twenty first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School died in the attack on Dec. 14, 2012. The verdicts came after another jury in Texas in August ordered Jones and his company to pay nearly $50 million in damages to the parents of another slain Sandy Hook child. A third trial over the hoax claims, involving two more Sandy Hook parents, is expected to be held near the end of the year in Texas. Pattis, Jones’ lawyer, wrote in the motions filed Friday that there was a lack of evidence directly connecting Jones with the people who harassed and threatened the Sandy Hook families.

An attorney for Jones, Norm Pattis, said in an email Friday that he is confident the verdict will be reversed on appeal. The families say they suffered a decade of harassment and death threats from people who believed the bogus claims. The Connecticut jury found Jones and Infowars parent company Free Speech Systems LLC should also pay punitive damages, which are set to be determined by a judge after several days of hearings next month. In their filing Friday, the families offered various methods of calculating punitive damages in similar cases. The Connecticut verdict came several months after a jury in Texas awarded two Sandy Hook parents $49.3 million in damages.

☆ Alex Jones seeks new trial after $1 billion Sandy Hook verdict
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Alex Jones arrives at the court house as he faces a second defamation trial over Sandy Hook claims in Waterbury, Connecticut, September 22, 2022. Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the 15 plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Jones, declined to comment on the filing Saturday, but said he and other attorneys for the Sandy Hook families will be filing a brief opposing Jones' request. Twenty first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School died in the attack on Dec. 14, 2012. A third trial over the hoax claims, involving two more Sandy Hook parents, is expected to be held near the end of the year in Texas. Pattis, Jones' lawyer, wrote in the motions filed Friday that there was a lack of evidence directly connecting Jones with the people who harassed and threatened the Sandy Hook families.

Infowars founder Alex Jones speaks to the media after appearing at his Sandy Hook defamation trial at Connecticut Superior Court in Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S., October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File PhotoOct 12 (Reuters) - A Connecticut jury began its third day of deliberations on Wednesday to decide how much conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting for falsely claiming that the massacre was a hoax. Closing arguments concluded last Thursday in Waterbury, Connecticut, not far from where a gunman killed 20 schoolchildren and six staff members in the town of Newtown. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterIn August, another jury found Jones and his company must pay $49.3 million to Sandy Hook parents in a similar case in Austin, Texas, where his Infowars website is based. Jones, who has since acknowledged the shooting occurred, also testified, railed against his "liberal" critics and refused to apologize to the families.

☆ In angry outburst, Infowars host Alex Jones says ‘he’s done being sorry’ during second defamation trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Safia Samee Ali | Safia Samee Ali Is A Reporter For Nbc News Digital | Based In Chicago. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

In an angry outburst, conspiracy theorist and Infowars host Alex Jones said “he’s done being sorry” as he took the stand Thursday during his second defamation trial for saying the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. A defiant Jones said he believed Sandy Hook was a hoax when he spread his lies. Twenty children and six educators were killed after a gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown and opened fire on Dec. 14, 2012. Alex Jones defamation trials Alex Jones is facing a defamation trial in Connecticut after being found liable for spreading lies that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. This is the second such trial for Jones, who has already been ordered to pay at least $4.1 million to a Sandy Hook family.

☆ Alex Jones admonished by judge as Sandy Hook defamation trial goes off the rails
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Oliver Darcy | Cnn Business | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York (CNN Business) Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones tangled Thursday in an explosive courtroom exchange with an attorney for families of Sandy Hook victims who have sued him in Connecticut, prompting an admonishment from the judge and warning that they could be held in contempt if they violate court rules moving forward. The warning from a frustrated Judge Barbara Bellis came during the trial that will determine how much Jones must pay the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims for his lies about the massacre. Christopher Mattei, an attorney for the families , questioned the far-right media personality about his false claim that the 2012 shooting in which 26 people were killed was a "hoax," prompting Jones to grow angry and attack him. Jones accused Mattei of being disingenuous and said he was guilty of "ambulance chasing" before descending into a rant in court about "liberals." Bellis, who had previously warned Jones that some of his outbursts were a violation of court rules, reminded the Infowars founder that he was in a "court of law" and is required to follow her instructions.

☆ Alex Jones grilled by Sandy Hook families’ lawyer over hoax claims, doubles down on ‘deep state’ conspiracy
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Jones baselessly told his audience in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that the incident was staged. In the Connecticut case, where Jones is being sued by eight more Sandy Hook families, Judge Barbara Bellis issued a default judgment against the Infowars founder in November 2021 after he failed to comply with court orders. The attorney argued to the jury that the lies Jones told about the families of Sandy Hook victims were far more damaging than the commentary that had bothered Jones and prompted his legal action. Because the judge already ruled that Jones is liable, the jury is determining the amount in damages to award the plaintiffs. Norman Pattis, Jones’ attorney, has argued that the claims made by the Sandy Hook plaintiffs are “exaggerated.” Pattis has also said the Sandy Hook families have “become partisans” and said the defense will argue the harm has been overstated “because they want to silence [Jones] for political reasons.”

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