- Parents of Sandy Hook victims break down in tears as a judge reads the verdict in the Alex Jones defamation case.
- The judge ordered Jones to pay nearly $1 billion in damages for spreading lies about the mass shooting.
- Robbie Parker, who lost his daughter, sobbed after the jury awarded his family $120 million.
The parents of Sandy Hook victims broke down in tears in a Connecticut courtroom after a judge ordered Alex Jones to pay them nearly $1 billion for spreading lies about the Sandy Hook mass shooting.
Parents gathered to watch the last day of Jones’ defamation trial in which the jury determined how much money he would have to pay in damages.
Jones was found guilty of defamation by default last year when he failed to turn over company records during the discovery stage of the case. As a result, the trial was focused squarely on not whether Jones defamed the plaintiffs but how much he owed them for doing so. For years, Jones spread a lie that the shooting was staged by the government as a pretext to restrict gun rights.
When the judge read the verdict, Robbie Parker, who lost his daughter in the massacre, bent over, putting his face in his hands before breaking down into sobs. William Sherlach, who lost his wife in the shooting, put a hand on Parker’s leg as a former of comfort while Francine Wheeler, another Sandy Hook parent, rubbed his back. Wheeler’s husband Bill was seen wiping away tears and sniffling as the judge continued to read the verdict.
“Our lawyers helped give me the strength to finally find my voice and stand up to what had been happening to me for so long,” Parker said through tears after the verdict.
Parker, who was awarded the most money of the families, $120 million, added that the families of Sandy Hook were rewarded for telling the truth.
"It shouldn't be this hard, and it shouldn't be this scary," he said. "Everyone who took the stand told the truth, except for one," he said, referring to Jones.
As the verdict was read, Jones went live on Infowars, claiming he would not actually pay the families any of the money in damages.
The Connecticut trial was the second of three similar cases Jones is facing. In August, a Texas jury ordered Jones to pay nearly $50 million to the parents of Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis. However, that award is likely to be slashed significantly due to a cap on punitive damages in Texas. Jones faces a third Sandy Hook trial back in Texas which has yet to be scheduled.