NEWTOWN, Conn. — A judge has ruled that Alex Jones, a right-wing conspiracy theorist who hosts InfoWars, must pay damages to the families of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims after claiming the tragedy was a “giant hoax” carried out by crisis actors, according to multiple reports.
HuffPost and The Washington Post both report that Judge Maya Guerra Gamble issued default judgments against Jones in two lawsuits stemming from his false claims about the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that claimed the lives of 26 people, including 20 children.
The judgments were issued after Jones reportedly didn’t comply with court orders to hand over information in the lawsuit filed against him by families of two kids killed in the massacre.
CNN explains that the rulings effectively mean Jones lost the cases by default.
Next, a jury will be convened to determine how much Jones will owe the plaintiffs in the two lawsuits, according to HuffPost.
These aren’t the only lawsuits Jones has faced in connection with his false claims about the deadly shooting. He’s lost multiple legal battles against other relatives of victims.
In a statement posted on the InfoWars website, Jones and attorney Norm Pattis said, “The trial court’s entry of a default in these is stunning. It takes no account of the tens of thousands of documents produced by the defendants, the hours spent sitting for depositions and the various sworn statements filed in these cases.”
