Alex Jones and Infowars Finally Face the Music for Sowing the Sandy Hook Conspiracies

Infowars founder Alex Jones spoke today in a trial that will determine what he owes the parents of a child killed in the Sandy shooting Hook. Last year, Jones was found liable in a series of defamation cases brought by parents of Sandy Hook victims.

For years, Jones and Infowars have spread outlandish and disturbing conspiracy theories claiming the 2012 tragedy, which claimed the lives of 28 people, most of them children, was staged.

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The first lawsuit to determine what damages Jones might owe is underway in Texas. Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of six-year-old Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis, are asking for at least $150 million. Late last month, Infowars' parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, likely a preemptive effort to dodge financial culpability before the outcome of the lawsuit.

In a surprise twist on Wednesday, the attorney representing the Sandy Hook victim's parents revealed that he had recently received a trove of phone data from Jones, apparently mistakenly shared with the opposing legal team.

Jones lost four separate Sandy Hook defamation cases in default after refusing to cooperate with courts in Texas and Connecticut and provide requested documents. Jones also failed to produce Sandy Hook-related messages in the discovery process for the damages lawsuit — an anomaly family attorney Mark Bankston pointed out on Wednesday.

"You know what perjury is, right?" Bankston asked.

The plaintiff's attorney also cited emails showing that Infowars was earning $800,000 a day - a staggering figure that Jones did not dispute despite his prior conflicting claims about the company's earnings. Jones claimed that any penalty over $2 million would "sink" his business.

Whether or not the damages award destroys his business, the lawsuit could prove to be a cautionary tale for the countless conspiratorial companies that, like Infowars, reap revenue from dangerous and politically controversial misinformation.< /p>

Shortly after the revelation, Rolling Stone announced that the January 6 committee planned to request these messages and emails as part of its ongoing investigation into the Capitol insurrection.

Jones is in court after infamously claiming that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a fake event staged by "crisis actors" to advance a secret ideological agenda. The false allegations have spread like wildfire online through the echo chambers of conspiracy theorists over the past decade, prompting believers to stalk and harass relatives of Sandy Hook victims, some of whom have even moved or hid to escape abuse.

Heslin described the situation as "living hell" in testimony this week. "What was said about me and about Sandy Hook itself resonates around the world," he said. “Over time, I really realized how dangerous it was… My life was threatened. I fear for my life, I fear for my safety."

Alex Jones has cashed in on the Infowars conspiracy empire for years, promoting repeated allegations of government cover-ups and false flag operations while offering brand name products like nootropic supplements promising to improve "masculine vitality". While bending the rules or even breaking them outright, Jones managed to stay active on mainstream social media platforms until just a few years ago.

In late 2018, major tech companies including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Spotify and Apple kicked Jones off their platforms, citing his long history of misconduct, misinformation and harassment. Apple led the effort, erasing Infowars from the App Store after Jones' media empire broke its rules against hate speech.