Many people across the US have praised a verdict against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones that will force the rightwing online personality to pay almost $1billion to those affected by his lies about the Sandy Hook shooting being a hoax.
But Jones himself has maintained a defiant attitude that he does not have the money to pay.
On Wednesday, a judge ordered the Infowars host to pay $965 million in damages to the families of Sandy Hook victims. The damages will be divided among 15 plaintiffs who sued for defamation as apart of a Connecticut lawsuit, with amounts ranging from $28 million to $120 million.
In a separate Texas lawsuit against Jones in August, a jury awarded almost $50 million to the parents of another child who was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, a 2012 mass shooting in which 20 children and six adults died.
Jones was not physically in the most recent courtroom, but reacted to the verdict on his Infowars show. Jones laughed and mocked the amounts that were awarded to the various individuals.
During his broadcast, Jones called the trial “all made up”, reported the Associated Press, encouraging his audience to donate money to his company and buy its products to offset the damages owed.
‘Ain’t no money’
Jones has routinely claimed that he does not have the money to pay the large sums that he now owes.
“Ain’t going to be happening. Ain’t no money,” he said on Wednesday during his show. “This must be what hell’s like – they just read out the damages. Even though you don’t got the money.”
But representatives for the families have argued that Jones is attempting to dodge the payments. In August, an economist estimated that Jones was worth $270 million, reported the New York Times.
Jones has also made $50 million annually in revenue from his Infowars empire, profits that increased during his defamation trials in Texas and Connecticut.
For years, Jones has used his online platform to claim the mass shooting was a hoax aimed at changing US gun laws, falsehoods that brought increased attention and profits to his website, reports the New York Times.
Death threats
Jones’s claims incited harassment and death threats towards the families, many of whom say they still struggle with the psychological impact of his lies. Families say they received regular abuse from Jones’s followers for years, including threats that the graves of their loved one would be dug up and vandalised.
Erica Lafferty, the daughter of the late Sandy hook principal Dawn Hochsprung, said individuals have mailed rape threats to her home. Mark Barden testified how conspiracy theorists urinated on the grave of his seven-year old son, Daniel, and threatened to dig up the child’s coffin.
Reactions from the families were mostly tearful, with several individuals weeping while the verdict was being read, reported NBC News.
“Every day in that courtroom, we got up on the stand and we told the truth,” Robbie Parker, father of Sandy Hook victim Emilie Parker, told the New York Times. “Telling the truth shouldn’t be so hard, and it shouldn’t be so scary.”
Attorneys for the families awarded damages from Jones have said that he will be forced to pay despite his claims of bankruptcy.
“We are going to enforce this verdict as long as it takes because that is what justice requires,” said Chris Mattei, an attorney for the victims.
“There will be more Alex Joneses in this world, but what they learned here today is that they absolutely will be held accountable,” added Ms Lafferty. - Reuters