HARTFORD, Conn. — On Friday, the Connecticut Appellate Court upheld a substantial verdict of $965 million that was awarded in 2022 against Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist. The court concluded that there was “sufficient evidence” justifying the damages that were granted to the victims’ families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and an FBI agent involved in the case.
In their unanimous decision, the judges referred to the “traumatic threats and harassment” that these families faced, which they claimed resulted from the false narrative propagated by Jones and others, suggesting that the Sandy Hook tragedy was fabricated.
The 62-page ruling detailed that the appellate court found ample support for the jury’s assessment of the $965 million in compensatory damages, marking this as the largest jury award in Connecticut’s history.
However, the court did provide some relief to Jones by rescinding $150 million in punitive damages that were awarded by a lower court. They concluded that the plaintiffs did not establish a legally enforceable claim under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. The court clarified that the harm claimed by the families stemmed from false statements rather than from any commercial activity related to advertising or marketing.
An email was dispatched to Jones’ legal representative seeking their perspective on the ruling.
As it stands, Jones is facing total liabilities approaching $1.2 billion, which includes the $965 million owed to the Connecticut families and nearly $50 million in damages ordered by a Texas jury for the parents of one Sandy Hook victim.
Jones had sought personal bankruptcy in 2022, with the prospective sale of his Infowars platform being a component of these proceedings. A request from the satirical news publication The Onion to acquire Infowars is set to be addressed once again in a Texas court, where a judge will assess the legitimacy of the bankruptcy auction, amid Jones’ allegations of fraud and collusion.
Attorneys representing the Sandy Hook families celebrated the Appellate Court’s ruling as a significant achievement, noting that Jones retains the option to further contest the decision in the Connecticut State Supreme Court.
“Today, Alex Jones’s attempt to challenge the historic verdict rendered against him and his controversial business, Infowars, was unanimously dismissed by the Connecticut Appellate Court. The jury’s $965 million decision against Jones remains intact, bringing the families who have fought relentlessly for years closer to justice,” the attorneys remarked in a statement.
Jones had continuously asserted to his vast audience that the tragic 2012 shooting, which resulted in the deaths of 20 children and six educators, was orchestrated by “crisis actors” as part of a scheme to push for stricter gun control.
Additionally, the appellate court confirmed that the lower court had acted appropriately in holding Jones and his Infowars parent company, Free Speech Systems LLC, accountable for damages by default due to their lack of cooperation with court mandates concerning evidence disclosure.
