As the trial begins for the defamation lawsuit filed against conspiracy peddler Alex Jones by the Sandy Hook families, the Infowars host is reportedly facing financial collapse should a Texas jury rule against him. According to the Associated Press, the families are seeking $150 million in “emotional distress and reputational damage” as well as an additional amount in punitive damages.
At issue is the claim that Jones “lied and attacked the parents of murdered children” when he repeatedly claimed on his Infowars show that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. While Jones has since admitted that the shooting was real, that didn’t stop the “campaign of lies” that sicced “wild extremists from the fringes of the internet” on the families, according to the plaintiff’s attorney Mark Bankston. Via AP:
Jones tapped into the explosive popularity of Sandy Hook conspiracy stories that became an “obsession” for the website, even years after the shooting, said Bankston, who played video clips of Jones claiming on his program that the shooting was a hoax and “the whole thing was completely fake. … It just didn’t happen.”
Anticipating Jones’ attorney’s expected strategy, Bankston told the jury, “This has nothing to do with the Constitution. Defamation is not protected by freedom of speech. … Speech is free, but lies you have to pay for.”
The Sandy Hook families seeking over $150 million in damages arrives after months of reports that Jones has been allegedly attempting to obfuscate his wealth. He’s reportedly been using shell companies and bankruptcy filings to hide his fortune heading into the trial. Jones has argued in court that his current net worth is negative $20 million, but lawyers for the Sandy Hook families have “have painted a different financial picture” and plan to target the $165 million that Jones made in supplement and survival gear sales while calling the shooting a hoax.
(Via Associated Press)
Source: https://uproxx.com/viral/alex-jones-sandy-hook-families-trial-150-million-damages/