By Jack Queen
(Reuters) – A Connecticut jury on Wednesday ordered U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay $965 million for spreading falsehoods about the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting. Here is a timeline of what led up to the verdict.
Jones has since admitted that the shooting took place.
December 2012 – A gunman kills 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, using a Remington Bushmaster rifle. The shooting ends when the gunman, Adam Lanza, takes his own life.
April 2013 – Jones calls Sandy Hook a “government operation” with “inside job written all over it” during an Infowars broadcast, one of at least a dozen occasions when he and other Infowars contributors spread false claims about the shooting.
April 16, 2018 – Three parents of Sandy Hook victims file two separate lawsuits against Jones and the parent company of his Infowars site, Free Speech Systems LLC, in Texas state court.
May 23, 2018 – Fourteen relatives of Sandy Hook victims sue Jones and four entities connected to Jones in Connecticut state court.
Oct. 31, 2018 – Another Sandy Hook parent sues Jones and Free Speech Systems in Texas, where Jones’ radio show and webcast are based.
September 2021 – A Texas judge enters a default judgment finding Jones liable for defamation after he repeatedly flouted court orders and failed to turn over documents to the plaintiffs.
November 2021 – A judge presiding over the Connecticut case also enters a default judgment against Jones for failure to comply with court orders.
April 2022 – Five shell entities controlled by Jones file for bankruptcy protection in Texas, which would typically pause all lawsuits against them. The case was dismissed in June after the Sandy Hook parents intervened, arguing it was a stall tactic.
Aug. 5, 2022 – A Texas jury finds that Jones and Free Speech Systems must pay two Sandy Hook parents $49.3 million in total damages after a two-week trial.
Aug. 29, 2022 – Free Speech Systems agrees to face trial in Connecticut despite filing for bankruptcy in July, which would normally shield it from lawsuits.
Oct. 12, 2022 – A Connecticut jury orders Jones to pay at least $965 million in damages to numerous families of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. Attorney fees will be determined in November.
(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Mark Porter and Matthew Lewis)
