On Monday, a Connecticut judge found Infowars host Alex Jones liable by default Monday in a defamation lawsuit brought by parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting over the conspiracy theorist’s claims that the massacre was “a hoax.”
The ruling by Judge Barbara Bellis, who cited Jones’ refusal to abide by court rulings or turn over evidence, means the families could end up taking everything he owns, his state, bank accounts, his cars, and even his conspiracy show once the jury determines how much in damages Jones should pay to the families.
After the judge’s decision, Jones went on his show to complain he was a victim of an unfair trial.
“These individuals, again, are not allowing me to have a jury trial because they know the things they said I supposedly did didn’t happen,” he said. “They know they don’t have a case for damages. And so the judge is saying you are guilty of damages, now a jury decides how guilty you are. It’s not guilty until proven guilty.”
The judge said Jones and his companies, Infowars and Free Speech Systems, had failed to turn over documents including records that might have showed how, and if, they had profited from spreading misinformation about the school shooting and other mass killings.
In the December 2012 shooting, twenty first-graders and six educators were killed, officials said. The gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, killed his mother at their Newtown home before the shooting, and killed himself at the school as police arrived, according to authorities.
Jones called the shooting a hoax involving child actors aimed at increasing gun control. Jones has since acknowledged the school shooting did occur.
Parents of the victims said they have been subjected to harassment and death threats from Jones’ followers because of the hoax conspiracy pushed on his show Infowars. They sued Jones and his companies for defamation and infliction of emotional distress. The hearing on damages before a jury is expected to be held next year.
