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Court slashes $50M judgment against Alex Jones over falsely calling Sandy Hook shooting a hoax
PBS • • nation
Key Points:
- A Texas court reduced a $50 million judgment against Alex Jones to about $6 million, maintaining $4.1 million in compensatory damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages related to his false claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax.
- The ruling adheres to Texas' $750,000 cap on punitive damages per plaintiff and does not affect a separate $1.25 billion judgment against Jones in Connecticut.
- Jones continues to appeal the judgments and has not made any payments, while legal proceedings over the liquidation of his company, Free Speech Systems, are ongoing amid bankruptcy filings.
- Families of Sandy Hook victims testified about harassment and threats they received due to Jones' false claims, and despite the reduced damages, their attorneys emphasize Jones still faces substantial financial liability.
- The satirical site The Onion attempted to acquire Infowars' assets to parody Jones' platform but faced legal setbacks; it continues to run parody content and sell related merchandise benefiting Sandy Hook families.
