US supreme court rejects Alex Jones appeal over $1.4bn defamation penalty

"The Infowars founder and conspiracy theorist had sought to overturn the judgment, which he was ordered to pay after he made false claims about the massacre. Jones had previously claimed the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were killed was a hoax staged by crisis actors to promote stricter gun control. The Sandy Hook victims' survivors reported that Jones's lies spurred threats and harassment from his followers, making it impossible for them to heal from the mass murder."

"Jones maintained that the $1.4bn judgment is an amount that can never be paid, adding that the result is a financial death penalty by fiat imposed on a media defendant whose broadcast reaches millions. Jones and Infowars' parent company, Free Speech Systems, declared bankruptcy in 2022 after the huge judgment stemming from lawsuits filed in Connecticut and Texas. A year later, a New York Times investigation into Jones's financial and legal documents found that he had transferred assets worth millions of dollars."

The US Supreme Court refused an appeal from Alex Jones, leaving a $1.4bn defamation penalty awarded to Sandy Hook victims' families in place. Jones had falsely claimed the 2012 Newtown shooting was a hoax staged by crisis actors, prompting threats and harassment against survivors. Jones argued a judge wrongly found him liable without a trial and called the judgment an unpayable financial death penalty. Jones and Infowars' parent company declared bankruptcy in 2022. Investigations and bankruptcy trustees allege transfers of assets and attempts to hide funds from creditors while victims pursued legal remedies.

Read at www.theguardian.com