Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist who runs the right-wing website Infowars, was found legally responsible for damages that stem from his false claims about the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012.
According to a court filing released Thursday, District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of Texas ordered Jones to pay damages to two families of victims as Jones failed to give solid evidence to back his claim that the shooting was a “false flag” event.
He had almost three years to provide evidence of his “false flag” claim as the lawsuit was filed in 2018. However, Jones failed to do so.
“An escalating series of judicial admonishments, monetary penalties, and non-dispositive sanctions have all been ineffective at deterring the abuse,” Gamble wrote in the court document. “Furthermore, in considering whether lesser remedies would be effective, this Court has also considered the Defendants’ general bad faith approach to litigation, Mr. Jones’ public threats, and Mr. Jones’ professed belief that these proceedings are ‘show trials.’”
The conspiracy theorist had falsely alleged that the tragic shooting that happened in December 2012 in Sandy Hook, Conn., was a “giant hoax” performed by crisis actors for those who oppose the Second Amendment.
The incident killed 26 people at Sandy Hook, including 20 young children.
“The Court finds that Defendants’ failure to comply … is greatly aggravated by [their] consistent pattern of discovery abuse throughout similar cases pending before this Court,” one of Gamble’s rulings reads. “The Court finds that Defendants’ discovery conduct, in this case, is the result of flagrant bad faith and callous disregard for the responsibilities of discovery under the rules.”
