“The day Sandy Hook happened, Alex Jones planted a seed of misinformation that lasted a decade,” parents’ attorney Kyle Farrar told the jury in closing arguments. Jones’ attorney asked the jury to limit damages to $8 - one dollar for each of the compensation charges they are considering - and Jones himself said any award over $2 million “would sink us.”Īt the end of Jones’ testimony, Mark Bankston, an attorney for the family, pulled a crumpled dollar bill out of his pocket, showed it to Jones, and put it down in front of the parents. That portion will involve a separate mini-trial with Jones and economists testifying to his and his company’s net worth. Once they determine whether Jones should pay the parents compensation for defamation and emotional distress, it must then decide if he must also pay punitive damages. Jurors began considering damages Wednesday. They will also ask the jury to assess additional punitive damages. Now, Heslin and Lewis are asking the jury in Austin for $150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. “It seems so incredible to me that we have to do this - that we have to implore you, to punish you - to get you to stop lying,” Lewis told Jones.Ĭourts in Texas and Connecticut have already found Jones liable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax involving actors aimed at increasing gun control.
The parents testified Tuesday about a decade of trauma, inflicted first by the murder of their son and what followed: gun shots fired at a home, online and telephone threats, and harassment on the street by strangers, all fueled by Jones and his conspiracy theory spread to his followers via his website Infowars.Ī forensic psychiatrist testified the parents suffer from “complex post-traumatic stress disorder” inflicted by ongoing trauma, similar to what might be experienced by a soldier at war or a child abuse victim.Īt one point in her testimony, Lewis looked directly at Jones, who was sitting barely 10 feet away.
“Alex started this fight,” Heslin said, “and I’ll finish this fight.” They said Jones and the media empire he controls and used to spread his false assertions must be held accountable. States' plans to make school safer reflect political dividesīut an apology isn’t enough for Heslin and Lewis.
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