Alex Jones ordered to pay $4.1 million to parents of Sandy Hook shooting victim

(Image credit: Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool, File)

published 4 August 2022

A Texas jury on Thursday ordered right-wing conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones to pay $4.1 million in compensatory damages to the parents of a Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim.

The plaintiffs, Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, asked for at least $150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Their 6-year-old son, Jesse, was one of the 20 children killed in the 2012 shooting.

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"Having a 6-year-old son shot in front of his classroom is unbearable and you don't think you're going to survive and then to have someone on top of that perpetuate a lie that it was a hoax, that is was a false flag," Lewis said from the stand, speaking to Jones. "I don't think you understand the fear you perpetuate, not just on the victim's family but to our family, our friends, and any survivor from that school."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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