A Connecticut jury has ruled that Infowars host Alex Jones must compensate the eight Sandy Hook victims’ families with nearly $1 billion.
There were tears among the family members as the jury read the amounts awarded to 15 different plaintiffs, which ranged between $28.8 million to $120 million, and added up to $965 million.
Jones claimed that the Sandy Hook massacre of 2012 was a hoax, and that the parents were crisis actors.
Alex Jones was not present to hear the verdict.
Jones could be held liable for intentional infliction and emotional distress, defamation, and violations of Connecticut’s Unfair Trade Practices Act. Jones created a false narrative that the mass shooter was a hoax. NBC News reported.
The victims’ families claimed Jones profited from their lies while they were harassed, abused and criticized by those who believed them, NBC News reported.
After a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut nearly a decade earlier, he killed twenty children and six teachers.