JONES TO PAY FOR ‘HOAX’ CLAIMS Conspiracy theorist must give €4M to victim’s family
PARENTS OF
A TEXAS jury has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay nearly €4 million to the parents of a boy who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
It marks the first time the Infowars host has been held financially liable for repeatedly claiming the deadliest school shooting in US history was a hoax.
The Austin jury must still decide how much the Infowars host must pay to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 children and six educators who were killed in the 2012 attack in Connecticut.
The parents had sought at least €150m for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Jones’ attorney asked the jury to limit damages to eight dollars one dollar for each of the compensation charges they are considering and Jones himself said any award over two million dollars “would sink us”.
It is likely that it will not be the last judgment against Jones over his claims that the attack was staged in the interests of increasing gun controls.
A Connecticut judge has ruled against him in a similar lawsuit brought by other victims’ families and an FBI agent who worked on the case.
The Texas award could set a marker for other cases against Jones and underlines the financial threat he is facing.
It also raises new questions about the ability of Infowars which has been banned from YouTube, Spotify and Twitter for hate speech to continue operating, although the company’s finances remain unclear.
Lied
Jones conceded during the trial that the attack was real and that he was wrong to have lied about it.
But Mr Heslin and Ms Lewis told jurors that an apology would not suffice and called on them to make Jones pay for the years of suffering he has put the Sandy Hook families through.
Jones’ media company Free Speech Systems, which is Infowars’ parent company, filed for bankruptcy during the two-week trial.
DEVASTATED parents of an Irish schoolgirl murdered in a 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre in Florida have given testimony at her killer’s trial.
Some 17 tragic victims, including Cara Loughran (14) were gunned down four years ago on February 14 by Nikolas Cruz, then aged 19.
Cara’s mum Denise and dad Damian Loughran told the jury that the teenager was a straight-A student who loved Irish dancing.
They revealed in their victim impact statements that Cara was planning to return to Ireland for a holiday that summer to see family in Antrim.
Family friend Isabel Dalu said in court on the heartbroken parents’ behalf: “Losing Cara has left a crushing absence in their lives.”
Isabel revealed Cara’s birthday was a week later and she wanted to get her driving learner’s permit and to dance in the St Patrick’s