© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Alex Jones speaks with media after day six of trial on the Travis County Courthouse, in Austin, U.S. August 2, 2022. Briana Sanchez/Pool through REUTERS
By Jack Queen
(Reuters) – Here’s a timeline of U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ falsehoods in regards to the 2012 Sandy Hook mass taking pictures and the following authorized fallout as he faces trial in Connecticut to find out how a lot he should pay victims’ households for claiming the taking pictures was a hoax.
Jones has since admitted that the taking pictures happened.
December 2012 — A gunman kills 20 youngsters and 6 workers members at Sandy Hook Elementary College in Newtown, Connecticut, utilizing a Remington Bushmaster rifle. The taking pictures ends when the gunman, Adam Lanza, takes his personal life.
April 2013 — Jones calls Sandy Hook a “authorities operation” with “inside job written throughout it” throughout an Infowars broadcast, one in all at the least a dozen events when he and different Infowars contributors unfold false claims in regards to the taking pictures.
April 16, 2018 — Three dad and mom of Sandy Hook victims file two separate lawsuits in opposition to Jones and the guardian firm of his Infowars web site, Free Speech Techniques LLC, in Texas state courtroom.
Could 23, 2018 — 13 relations of Sandy Hook victims in addition to one FBI agent sue Jones and 4 entities linked to Jones in Connecticut state courtroom.
October 31, 2018 — One other Sandy Hook guardian sues Jones and Free Speech Techniques in Texas, the place Jones’ radio present and webcast relies.
September 2021 — A Texas decide enters a default judgment discovering Jones accountable for defamation after he repeatedly flouted courtroom orders and failed to show over paperwork to the plaintiffs.
November 2021 — A decide presiding over the Connecticut case additionally enters a default judgment in opposition to Jones for failure to adjust to courtroom orders.
April 2022 — 5 shell entities managed by Jones file for chapter safety in Texas, which might usually pause all lawsuits in opposition to them. The case was dismissed in June after the dad and mom intervened, arguing that it was a stall tactic.
August 5, 2022 — A Texas jury finds that Jones and Free Speech Techniques should pay two Sandy Hook dad and mom $49.3 million in whole damages after a two-week trial.
August 29, 2022 — Free Speech Techniques agrees to face trial in Connecticut regardless of submitting for chapter in July, which might usually protect it from lawsuits.
(The story corrects Could 23, 2018 entry to point out that the plaintiffs embody 13 relations of Sandy Hook victims and one FBI agent, not 14 relations.)