Top News Host Ordered To Pay $1.4 Billion!

Top News Host Ordered To Pay $1.4 Billion!

Alex Jones Ordered To Pay Over $1.4 Billion

(UnitedHeadlines.com) – Alex Jones, host of Infowars, received more bad news on November 10, when Superior Court Judge Barbara N. Bellis determined the amount he would owe in punitive damages and attorney fees. The conservative host had profited from lies claiming paid actors played the roles of victims and family members in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. In all, the defendant will have to pay over $1.4 billion to some of the people who suffered the most from his callous and selfish promotional stunt.

Damages and Fees

The New York Times reported that a court ordered Jones to pay $965 million to the victims’ families in compensatory damages in September, with punitive damages to be decided later. A previous lawsuit had put the Infowars host on the line for another $50 million.

In this most recent ruling, Judge Bellis added $321,650,000 in punitive damages and attorney fees, $1,489,555.94 for additional costs, and $150,000,000 for violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. She ordered that the money would go to the 15 plaintiffs in the case, noting she felt the decision was “appropriate” for Jones’ crimes. The judge also ordered a freeze on his assets. She told the guilty party he was not to move any of his money until a December 2 hearing, which would determine more specifics on the future of his holdings.

Complicating the issue, Jones had filed bankruptcy for Free Speech Systems, the company under which he operated Infowars, in July. The move led to the order of an independent review of the defendant’s assets and transaction history in September.

Fitting Punishment

The lawsuits against Jones began after he aggressively and persistently pushed the narrative that anti-gun activists had staged the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. His cruelty resulted in years of torment from his devoted fans, with “infowarriors” visiting victims’ houses, sending emails, and trolling the grieving family members on social media. Some individuals even received rape and death threats. In reality, six adults and 20 children died in the tragedy.

Judge Bellis found Jones was “intentional and malicious” in his actions when he launched his verbal assault against the shooting victims’ families. She noted Jones’ skyrocketing sales figures resulting from the scandal, the defendant’s attempts at obscuring the true value of his assets, and his “stunningly cavalier attitude” throughout every step of the proceedings when she considered his fate.

Jones’s lawyer called the ruling a “farce,” according to The Wall Street Journal, adding that the judge’s decision would make their “appeal that much easier.”

A third lawsuit against Jones, filed separately by the parents of another victim, is still pending.

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