Sandy Hook trial: Who is Alex Jones, fined nearly $1 billion for conspiracy theories

The families of the victims testified in court that the falsehoods spread by Jones led to them being threatened and harassed by his followers for years.

Jones has tried to portray the cases levelled against him as an assault on his freedom of speech, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US constitution. He had previously described the first lawsuit as a “Constitution-destroying, absolute, total and complete travesty.”

His lawyer, Norm Pattis portrayed the trial as unfair, stating outside the court on Wednesday, “Today is a very, very, very dark day for freedom of speech,” as reported by the Associated Press.

Who is Alex Jones

Alex Jones, 48, is perhaps America’s biggest and most influential conspiracy theorist and has been spreading falsehoods for more than two decades on his popular website, Infowars. He also broadcasts ‘The Alex Jones Show’ to over 100 radio stations, reaching an audience of millions. He peddles unverified claims in his unique shouty style of delivery, along with growls and yells, occasionally rips off his shirt, and punches the table.

Jones has spread some bizarre conspiracy theories. One such theory is that the US government is putting chemicals in the water supply to turn people gay, and has even been able to “turn the friggin frogs gay”. He argued that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were not humans but demons from hell that smelled of sulphur. Jones has also been instrumental in the spread of the infamous “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory, that a pizzeria in Washington DC is a front for a child sex trafficking ring involving Hillary and Bill Clinton.

According to a profile published in German news organisation Der Spiegel in 2017, two-thirds of Jones’s revenue comes from selling the products often mentioned in his shows, like toothpaste, “brain pills”, bulletproof vests, and potency pills. As a result, his shows and product line have made him a very wealthy man. On August 5, a forensic economist testified in court that he estimated the combined net worth of Jones and his business entities was around $135 million and $270 million.

What did Alex Jones do?

Disinformation campaigns are deliberate attempts to spread false information, unlike misinformation, which simply means wrong information being conveyed without the intention to do so. Alex Jones became a leading figure in spreading disinformation, a lot of which began to surface very soon after the massacre took place.

As many as 26 people were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and for years, Jones has been arguing on his show that the mass shooting in Sandy Hook was a “giant hoax” and “false flag” perpetrated by the US government so that it could take away guns from the American public. He also claimed that no one died at the event and accused the parents of being “crisis actors” to sway public opinion.

On August 3, during his testimony as part of the previous defamation lawsuit that he faced, Jones admitted that he believes the massacre was “100 per cent real.”

The victims of the family members sued Jones for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violating Connecticut’s unfair trade practices law by making large profits from the lies he peddled, Associated Press reported. They told jurors that for years they faced harassment, death threats and mails containing pictures of their dead children, from people who believed Jones’ conspiracy theories aired on Infowars.

The parents of a seven-year-old boy who was killed in the shooting testified on October 4 that people had urinated on their son’s grave and threatened to dig it up to prove he was alive, Associated Press reported.

Why is the First Amendment not relevant to the case?

The nearly $1 billion of compensatory damages ordered by a Connecticut jury had led some to claim that it sets a precedent in limiting free speech in the country, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US constitution. After the ruling, US representative and far-right conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed that “political persecution” was at play. “ Were his words wrong and did he apologise? Yes,” Greene tweeted. “That’s what freedom of speech is. Freedom to speak words,” Wired magazine reported.

Jones and his lawyer have also portrayed the trial as an attack on his freedom of speech. In July, during a separate lawsuit filed by the parents of a Sandy Hook victim, Jones arrived at a Texas court while wearing a piece of tape over his mouth that said “Save the 1st,” in reference to the First Amendment that he claims is being trampled.

The parents, who won a separate lawsuit in August, claimed that his statements were so malicious that they fell outside the bounds of speech protected by the constitution, reported the Associated Press.

Furthermore, the current trial was not about determining whether Jones was guilty or not. That had already been established. The jury was instead tasked with deciding how much he owed to the plaintiffs.

In the four separate lawsuits filed in Connecticut and Texas, Jones lost the chance to invoke the First Amendment during the trials after he was found liable by default in every case last year, because he failed to provide his financial records and other documents, despite being ordered by the courts, The New York Times reported.