In August, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was ordered to pay $45 million to families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School gun massacre, after years of him spreading bizarre lies about it, including that it was a “false flag.” If that didn’t seem like it was enough, then you could take comfort that it wasn’t the only lawsuit Jones facing about the same matter. Indeed, on Wednesday, some two months later, Jones has been forced to pay quite considerably more than that. But instead of devastated, he was…elated?
Alex Jones live-reacted to the latest verdict against him with cheers and fist-pumps. pic.twitter.com/iDz7H3fPV1
— David Edwards (@DavidEdwards) October 12, 2022
As caught by Raw Story, Jones aired the reading of the verdict from a Connecticut jury on his show Infowars. There were many charges, and each one came with a hefty price tag. The total was $965 million — nearly a billion dollars, all for spreading misinformation that damaged the lives of grieving parents and family members, all while making him all the wealthier.
Jones let viewers see his live reaction to each penalty, but instead of burying his face in his palms, or maybe even coming to grips with the consequences of his actions, he did the opposite. After each penalty, he let out a mock-cheer. He pumped his fists. He screamed “YEAH!”
This led to some surreal incongruities. For instance, it’s a bit troubling that after the words “emotional distress damages, past and future: $30 million,” he let rip one of his “YEAAHHHH”s.
Jones has called the Sandy Hook-related trials against him a “kangaroo court,” even mocking the judge at the trial in Texas over the summer. For this latest, much more severe verdict, he bemoaned, “This must be what Hell’s like, they just read out the damages. Even though you don’t got the money.”
He plans to appeal the verdict, but he also suggested on his show that he’s not paying anyway. “‘Do these people actually think they’re getting any of this money?’” He also warned that being sued into kingdom come won’t stop him from spreading conspiracy theories. “They want to scare us away from questioning Uvalde or Parkland,” he said, adding, “We’re not going away. We’re not going to stop.”
Meanwhile, there’s a third trial en route later this year, also to be held in Texas, which may end with him owing even more than over a billion dollars. Perhaps he’ll be a bit less faux-jubilant then.
(Via Raw Story)