The total — $49.3 million — is less than the $150 million sought by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 children and six teachers killed in the 2012 attack in Newtown of Connecticut. But the trial marks the first time Jones has been held financially responsible for peddling lies about the massacre, claiming he was falsified by the government to tighten gun laws. Afterward, Lewis said Jones — who was not in the courtroom to hear the verdict — has been held accountable. She said when she took the step and looked Jones in the eye, she thought of her son, who was credited with saving lives by yelling “run” when the killer stopped in his rampage. “He stood up to the bully Adam Lanza and saved the lives of nine of his classmates,” Lewis said. “I hope I took that incredible courage when I was able to stand up to Alex Jones, who is also a bully. I hope this inspires other people to do the same.” It may be a while before plaintiffs collect anything. Jones’ lead attorney, Antino Reynal, told the judge he would appeal and ask the courts to drastically reduce the size of the verdict. After the hearing, Reynal said he believed the punitive amount would be reduced to just $1.5 million. “We think the verdict was too high. … Alex Jones will be on the air today, he will be on the air tomorrow, he will be on the air next week. He will continue to do his job holding the power structure accountable.” Jones’ companies and personal wealth could also be shredded by other lawsuits and bankruptcy. Another defamation lawsuit against Jones by a Sandy Hook family is set to begin pretrial hearings in the same Austin court on Sept. 14. He faces yet another defamation lawsuit in Connecticut. Plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Bankston said he believes he can challenge any attempt to reduce damages. But, he said, even if the award is drastically reduced, it is just as important that the large verdict goes through the bankruptcy court for the family to claim against Jones’ estate and company. Jones testified this week that any award over $2 million would “sink” us. His company Free Speech Systems, which is the Austin-based parent company of Infowars, filed for bankruptcy protection during the first week of the trial. Punitive damages are intended to punish defendants for particularly egregious conduct, in addition to monetary compensation awarded to individuals who were harmed. A high punitive award is also seen as an opportunity for jurors to send a wider social message and a way to deter others from the same heinous behavior in the future. Barry Covert, a Buffalo, New York, First Amendment attorney unconnected to the Jones case, said the total damages awarded amounted to a “stunning loss for Jones.” “At $50 million in total, the jury sent a huge, resounding message that this behavior will not be tolerated,” Covert said. “Anyone with a show like this knowingly lying to them – the judges won’t stand for it.” Future jurors in other pending Sandy Hook trials could look to the award amounts in this case as a benchmark, Covert said. If other juries do, Covert said, “it could very well put Jones out of business.” The family’s lawyers had urged jurors to impose a financial penalty that would force Infowars to shut down. “You have the ability to prevent this man from doing this again,” Wesley Ball, the parents’ attorney, told jurors Friday. “Send the message to those who wish to do the same: Speaking is free. Lies, you pay.” An economist testified that Jones and the company are worth as much as $270 million. Bernard Pettingill, who was hired by the plaintiffs to study Jones’ net worth, said records show Jones withdrew $62 million for himself in 2021 when default judgments were entered in lawsuits against him. “That number represents, in my opinion, a net worth value,” Pettingill said. “He’s got money in a bank account somewhere.” But Jones’ lawyers said their client had already learned his lesson. They argued for a punitive amount of less than $300,000. “You have already sent a message. A message for the first time to a talk show host, to all talk show hosts, that their standard of care needs to change,” Reynal said. Friday’s damage drew praise from the American Federation of Teachers union, which represented teachers at Sandy Hook. “Nothing will ever mend the pain of losing a child or watching this tragedy denied for political reasons. But I’m glad the Sandy Hook parents got justice,” union president Randy Weingarten tweeted. Attorneys for the Sandy Hook families who sued Jones allege he tried to hide evidence of his true wealth in various shell companies. During his testimony, Jones was confronted with a note from one of his business managers that described gross revenue of $800,000 a day from the sale of vitamin supplements and other products through his website, which was close to 300 million dollars in a year. Jones called it a record sales day. Jones, who framed the lawsuit as an attack on his First Amendment rights, admitted during the trial that the attack was “100 percent real” and that he was wrong to lie about it. But Heslin and Lewis told jurors that an apology would not be enough and called on them to make Jones pay for the years he suffered at the hands of them and other Sandy Hook families. The parents told jurors they have endured a decade of trauma, caused first by their son’s murder and what followed: a shooting at a home, online and phone threats and street harassment by strangers. They said the threats and harassment were fueled by Jones and his conspiracy theory spread to his followers through Infowars. A medical examiner testified that the parents suffer from “complex post-traumatic stress disorder” caused by ongoing trauma, similar to what a soldier in war or a victim of child abuse might experience. Throughout the trial, Jones was his typically bombastic self, talking about conspiracies on the witness stand, during impromptu press conferences and on his talk show. His erratic behavior is unusual by courtroom standards and the judge reprimanded him, telling him at one point: “This is not your show.” The trial drew attention outside Austin as well. Bankston told the court Thursday that the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol requested records from Jones’ phone that Jones’ lawyers had accidentally turned over to prosecutors. Bankston later said he planned to comply with the committee’s request. By Friday, Bankston said, he had “a subpoena in my office” from the Jan. 6 commission. However, he said he had to “temper expectations” that he could reveal texts about the insurgency as it appears to have been collected for data in the mid-2020s. Bankston said he also had a “law enforcement” interest in the phone data, but declined to elaborate. Last month, the House committee showed graphic and violent text messages and played videos of right-wing figures, including Jones, and others vowing that Jan. 6 would be the day they fight for Trump. The committee first subpoenaed Jones in November, demanding testimony and documents about his efforts to spread disinformation about the 2020 election and a rally the day of the attack.
Associated Press writer Michael Tarm in Chicago and Susan Haigh in Norwich, Connecticut contributed to this report.
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