Twenty children and six adults were killed in the 2012 Connecticut school massacre.
Radio broadcaster and promoter of conspiracy theories Alex Jones will have to pay almost 1,000 million euros to the relatives of the victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown (Connecticut), and to an FBI agent for spreading for years on his station that the attack was a hoax shot by actors hired by a plot to deprive people of their weapons.
This court ruling responds to a lawsuit for defamation filed by some families of the twenty children and six adults murdered in this massacre on December 14, 2012 and by the police, who was one of the first to arrive at the scene. A Texas jury had already awarded nearly $50 million in August to the parents of another of the slain children.
Jones was not present in court during the reading of the ruling, but he did speak on his show. “All invented. Hilarious,” he said. “So this is what a show trial looks like. I mean, this is the Left totally out of control.” His attorney, Norm Mattis, described the trial as unfair and announced that he would appeal. “Today is a very very dark day for freedom of expression,” added the lawyer.
They urinated on graves
Robbie Parker, who lost his 6-year-old daughter, Emilie, said outside court that he was proud that “just getting the truth out there” was finally possible. Parker had become an initial target of conspiracy theorists after his remarks at a news conference the day after the shooting. The jury awarded him the largest compensation in the case: 120 million euros.
Most of the victims’ families said they had been threatened and harassed for years by people who believed the lies spread on Jones’ show. They reported that strangers showed up at their homes to record them and that insulting comments on social networks were common.
Mark Barden said in trial testimony that conspiracy theorists urinated on the grave of his 7-year-old son, Daniel, and threatened to dig up the coffin. He and his wife received about 86 million euros.
Retired FBI agent William Aldenberg, who was awarded $90 million, described the horror he saw at the school when he went to the scene with other security forces, as well as his outrage to see that the internet claimed he was an actor.
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