Sandy Hook school shooting 2012: Alex Jones to pay $965M in damages to families of victims over 'hoax' claims

A US jury has instructed Alex Jones to pay $965m in damages to families of victims of 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.

In the 2012 incident, a 20-year-old person called Adam Lanza killed twenty children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School, while Alex Jones argued for years that the massacre was nothing but a hoax as it was a "staged" government plan where no one died.




The families of eight victims and an FBI agent who countered the attack asked for a minimum of $550m during the defamation trial in Connecticut. These families reported that the misinformation shared by Jones led them to face a decade of harassment and threats.

After the final verdict was declared on Wednesday in Waterbury, many of the families were seen getting emotional.
Some parents described that they underwent a deluge of online hate, while others stated they had to relocate to ensure their safety.

FAQ:

Who is Alex Jones?
Alex Jones is the host of an American right-wing radio show who also founded the conspiracy-laden Infowars website. He is a prominent conspiracy theorist who claimed the deadliest school shooting in the Sandy Hook Elementary School was just a hoax.

How much did the jury ask Alex Jones to pay to the victims' families?
A previous trial on a similar case in Texas ordered Jones to pay $49.3m in damages while the plaintiffs sought $150m for harassment and emotional distress caused by Jones. However, the jury ultimately ordered him to pay $965m.