{"id":11678,"date":"2022-08-05T14:51:24","date_gmt":"2022-08-05T14:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/05\/alex-jones-must-pay-4-1-million-for-spreading-sandy-hook-conspiracy-theory\/"},"modified":"2022-08-05T14:51:25","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T14:51:25","slug":"alex-jones-must-pay-4-1-million-for-spreading-sandy-hook-conspiracy-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/05\/alex-jones-must-pay-4-1-million-for-spreading-sandy-hook-conspiracy-theory\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Jones must pay $4.1 million for spreading Sandy Hook conspiracy theory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/4\/23292425\/alex-jones-sandy-hook-defamation-trial-verdict-fine<\/a>
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A jury has ordered conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones<\/a> to pay $4.1 million to the parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The decision<\/a> followed a trial that saw Jones and his counsel break courtroom protocol<\/a> and \u2014 at one point \u2014 accidentally send<\/a> copies of Jones\u2019 phone records to the opposing legal team. The fine marks one of the first concrete legal consequences for Jones\u2019 false claims that the shooting was a staged \u201cfalse flag,\u201d which led to years of harassment for parents. But it represents only a fraction of the money Jones has made in the years since.<\/p>\n

Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, whose son Jesse Lewis was one of the 20 children killed at Sandy Hook, had requested $150 million in compensation for Jones\u2019 statements about Sandy Hook. As The New York Times <\/em>notes<\/a>, the jury will meet again after today\u2019s verdict to consider whether to award further punitive damages. Jones will face a total of three trials from Sandy Hook parents; since he lost defamation cases in all three by default<\/a> for refusing to produce documents to the court, the jury in each case will be deciding financial penalties.<\/p>\n

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