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

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

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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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

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.