Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was ordered to pay $965 million Wednesday by a Connecticut jury for false claims he made about the tragic 2012 mass murder of children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn.
Chris Mattei -- the attorney for families of the Sandy Hook victims’ – discussed the verdict with Brian Shactman Thursday of Audacy’s WTIC News Talk Radio on Brian & Company.
“Obviously, yesterday was a huge day. You know, we're getting on 10 years, and the anniversary of Sandy Hook where 20 children and six adults were murdered,” said Shactman. “And yesterday 15 plaintiffs were awarded $965 million from Alex Jones, for him basically saying it was a fraud and a hoax, and that it never happened.”
Mattei said that it was clear early on in the trial that the jury was “disturbed by what they saw,” from Jones, who runs the InfoWars website that features far-right talk shows.
A jury began deliberating last Thursday after three weeks of trial in Waterbury, Conn., said Axios. Families of the school shooting victims said that Jones caused emotional distress for them when he painted the gruesome massacre as a hoax.
“You know, a 10-year attack by Alex Jones on these families, in the aftermath of just an unspeakable loss that resulted in them, you know, kind of enduring harassment and fear and threats, some of them having to live on the run,” Mattei told Shactman.
“Nobody should ever have to endure the kind of harassment and persecution that Alex Jones caused, especially the families of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School,” said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont of the verdict. “A jury in Connecticut today sent a strong message that what he did to these families and a first responder was disgraceful.”
Mattei said that attorneys and the Sandy Hook clients became “like family” through their experience. Hear as he details their reactions through the final hours of the trial with Shactman.
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