‘Good Does Prevail’: Jury Orders Alex Jones To Pay Nearly $1 Billion To Sandy Hook Victims’ Families
Oct. 12 2022, Published 6:01 p.m. ET
A Connecticut jury has ordered InfoWars founder Alex Jones to pay $965 million in damages to the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting victims, as well as an FBI agent, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The ruling comes after a Texas jury previously ordered Jones to pay $50 million in damages earlier this year.
Jones was found guilty of spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about the elementary school shooting, alleging victims were not actually murdered among other unfounded claims including planted crisis actors.
The vicious mistruths caused years of undue stress and inflicted further trauma on the families, which became the target of conspiracy theorists' threats perpetrated by Jones and InfoWars.
“This is sending the right message that people are good and that good does prevail,” said Nicole Hockley, the mother of 6-year-old Dylan Hockley, who was killed during the massacre. “Thank you for restoring my faith in people like that.”
Previously, Nicole attempted to engage with Jones’ InfoWars audience, trying to convince them that the tragedy that her son, her family, and the families who were affected by the shooting was real.
On her failed attempts to connect with InfoWars believers, Hockley said she was “looking for the good" at the time.
Following the two verdicts, Hockley addressed the press outside of the courthouse and expressed “gratitude” towards the jurors “for hearing us.”
Other parents of the Sandy Hook victims also chimed in on the verdict.
“Everybody that took the stand told the truth, except for one. The one who proclaims that that’s what he does,” said Robbie Parker about Jones. Parker is the father of 5-year-old victim Emilie Parker. He credited his lawyers for the justice that prevailed in the Connecticut courthouse, marking the end of a hard-fought legal battle.
“The strength to finally find my voice and to fight and to stand up to what had been happening to me for so long,” Parked said.
“I let my voice be taken away from me and my power be taken away from me. At the expense of my daughter and at the expense of my family. So I have to thank them for helping me get the strength. And the families that I’ve been associated with for 10 years through this tragedy are the most beautiful people you’ll ever encounter, and their children and their moms and their wives are the most beautiful people you could ever get to know.”
During the trial, the father recounted the harassment he and his family have had to endure by Jones’ supporters. Parker also thanked the jurors “for what they had to endure, what they had to listen to.”
One day after the school shooting that claimed the life of his son, Parker spoke out. Later that evening, Jones took to his website to claim that Parker was a crisis actor. His accusation drove InfoWar supporters to Emilie’s Facebook memorial page where they left hateful comments and sent messages attacking the father and the media.
“I felt like I couldn’t protect Emilie’s name, or her memory anymore so I had to get rid of it,” Parker tearfully said about having to take down the page due to the barrage of slander.
While the nearly one billion dollar verdict is an eyebrow-raising amount, legal analysts have lent their opinion of the ruling.
“There is no amount of money that can make these families whole,” said CNN contributor Areva Martin.
While Jones has claimed that he is broke, it’s unclear what the future of his website holds, considering the massive revenue his online presence brings in. He has already been accused of hiding assets following the $50 million Texas ruling.
“I hope that these families – if they don’t collect a dime — that they put him out of business and they prevent him from ever doing this to any other family or group of families who have experienced the kind of pain that these families have experienced,” Martin added on the potential of Jones being unable to make payments to victims' families.
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