Alex Jones Guilty by Default in All Sandy Hook Defamation Suits

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: New York Times


Alex Jones spread false theories about the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.Credit...Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times


A superior court in Connecticut granted a sweeping victory to the parents of eight people killed in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., suing the far-right broadcaster and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars media outlet for defamation.

The judge in Connecticut ruled on Monday that because Mr. Jones refused to turn over documents ordered by the courts, including financial records, he was guilty by default. The ruling combines with three previous rulings in Texas to grant the families of 10 Sandy Hook shooting victims four victories in four defamation lawsuits against Mr. Jones.

Mr. Jones for years spread bogus theories that the shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators was a government-led plot to confiscate Americans’ firearms and that the victims’ families were “actors” in the scheme.

The Sandy Hook families maintain that Mr. Jones profited from spreading lies about their relatives’ murders. Mr. Jones has disputed that, while for years failing to produce sufficient records to bolster his claims. Juries in both states will next decide how much Mr. Jones should pay the families in damages, atop court costs. Those trials are scheduled for next year in both states.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/15/us/politics/alex-jones-sandy-hook.html

[Sherman A1]

1. Hopefully he is left penniless

and selling pencils on the street corner.

[COL Mustard]

8. I'd Rather See Him Living Under A Bridge, Like The Troll He Is.

But that would be unkind to the bridge, I suppose.

[kairos12]

11. No. Trolls say no. They have standards.

[COL Mustard]

20. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[DeeNice]

22. lol thank you.

[calimary]

24. Whatever standards trolls may have, they're higher than his.

Higher than ANYTHING this fucker can come up with.

[Trueblue1968]

34. TROLLS .... alex jones is a troll. WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE GUY ON THAT GUY !!!

[Tommy Carcetti]

2. Shouldn't that be "liable"?

Given that it's civil court.

[BlueIdaho]

3. There isn't enough money on earth

To come up with an appropriate fine for this lizard’s crimes.

[malthaussen]

4. Yay for lower court!

They'll appeal, of course.

-- Mal

[lastlib]

17. Appeal a default judgment, when he produced no evidence and didn't show up for trial?

That'll get a laugh-track from "I Love Lucy" in any appeals court.

[PSPS]

30. I Love Lucy never used a laugh track

[lastlib]

35. Point taken.

But there are plenty of recordings of laughter from the shows--that'll work.

[RKP5637]

5. I hope there is a significant consequence for his behavior and not just a dumb slap on the wrist! nt

[lastlib]

18. Plaintiffs will be awarded every cent, since he essentially didn't contest the suit.

Whether they'll see any $$ depends on how well Jonesy hides his assets. Plaintiffs can levy on everything they can find, and Jonesy can't do nuttin' but whine, which is what he's best at.

[COL Mustard]

21. I Hope They Can Go After All Of His Future Earnings Too

Levy the house, the cars, the bank accounts, every asset he has that can be pursued. He should have more levies than the Mississippi River.

[lastlib]

23. Sure, they can garnish his salary, and any other income to satisfy the judgment.

I'm with ya--hope they get every dime that ever comes his way.

[RKP5637]

27. Excellent!!!!!!! n/t

[RKP5637]

6. What a grotesque asshole!!! n/t

[Midnight Writer]

7. This case has lived longer than the children that were killed.

And it is still not resolved.

Justice should not take this long. The facts are not in dispute.

[keithbvadu2]

9. Now to find where he has been hiding his money/assets

[ToxMarz]

10. If he didn't bother to show up or provided court ordered documents in the trial

He should not be allowed to provide any input in the trial to award damages. My bet is he calculated he was going to lose, and the best way to limit his liability was to not let anyone see the evidence of what a true ass he has been.

[Kablooie]

12. I'll bet most of his money is hidden overseas.

He can empty out his small bank accounts here and keep living in luxury.
Otherwise why would he have done this?

[madville]

32. Hidden overseas?

You can hide money way more easily now with crypto currency and cash it in anywhere.

[George II]

13. Hartford Courant has an article on this too, also to be updated:

https://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-br-sandy-hook-lawsuit-alex-jones-hearing-20211115-ccie6kyugrcenm5pjrje7xswk4-story.html

Connecticut judge orders Infowars’ Alex Jones must pay damages to families of Sandy Hook shooting victims in defamation lawsuits

A Connecticut judge has ruled conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is responsible for all damages in the defamation lawsuits brought against him by the families of those killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting after his repeated claims that the Newtown massacre was a hoax.

Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis issued a default in the lawsuits Monday morning after years of what she found to be inappropriate conduct by Jones’ attorneys regarding depositions and the “callous disregard of their obligation” to turn over financial and web analytics data as ordered by the court.

The default is the most severe sanction Bellis could issue, ruling in favor of the Sandy Hook families and sending the case directly to a jury to award them damages without the much-anticipated civil trial.

“Mr. Jones is very used to saying whatever he wants to say from the comfort of his own studio, but what I think this case has shown is that when he is forced to defend his conduct in a court of law and comply with court orders, that it’s a very different ballgame,” said attorney Chris Mattei, a lawyer representing the Sandy Hook families. “The fact that the court was left with no choice but to default him shows just how unwilling Mr. Jones was to have his conduct exposed to the light of day in front of a jury.”

[JohnSJ]

14. I hope this is just the start of more like this on others

[ffr]

15. Where morality and integrity shaming fails, the law comes through.

Thank goodness! May this flow down the toilet plumbing to all of his loyal disciples.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

16. He'll blame it on the gay frogs

[Initech]

29. Which he then used to hawk a bunch of overpriced, poor quality water filters.

And all the other shitty products hawked through the Infowars website. Who buys that shit?

[Evolve Dammit]

19. So he has at least another year to hide assets? Maybe longer?

[DENVERPOPS]

25. My thinking exactly

I have long since given up on thinking that any of these right wingers, from bottom to top, will EVER see any type of action to penalize them or punish them...................

[Evolve Dammit]

26. I'm trying to stay optimistic, but it is seriously waning.

[madville]

33. He probably has a decent crypto portfolio at this point

You can transport that virtually and sell it just about anywhere in the world

[70sEraVet]

36. Can the judge order his assets be frozen?

[Faux pas]

28. ...

Schadenfreude all the way!

[Blue Owl]

31. Lock that filth up