Alex Jones, who founded the conspiracy-laden Infowars, argued for years that the Sandy Hook massacre was a "staged" government plot to take guns from Americans.
Alex Jones has been forced to pay $965 million in damages after falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.
Jones, who launched the conspiracy-laden Infowars website and talk show, claimed for years that the massacre was a "staged" government plot to take away Americans' guns and that "no one died."
In the Connecticut defamation trial, the relatives of eight victims and an FBI agent who responded to the attack wanted at least $550 million. They said that the right-wing radio host's misinformation resulted in a decade of harassment and death threats.
He labeled victims' parents as "crisis actors" claiming that some of them never existed. Twenty children and six adults were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
He now acknowledges the attack was "100% real" a statement he made in August during a separate Texas defamation trial.
Many of the families were obviously distraught, with some in tears, as the decision was read out on Wednesday in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Jurors were also told that Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, gained millions of dollars selling nutritional supplements, survival gear, and other things on the Infowars website.
Jones broadcast himself scoffing at the court procedures while watching the verdict on Wednesday. He also asked his fans to make urgent donations, promising that the money would not be used to cover his legal fees.
"The money does not go to these people," he said. "It goes to fight this fraud and it goes to stabilize the company."
Reporters were informed by his attorney, Norm Pattis, that an appeal will be filed.
Jones, on the other hand, had denounced the proceedings as being conducted by a "show trial" judge in a "tyrant" and said he was not to fault for the actions of his supporters.
"I've already said I'm sorry hundreds of times, and I'm done saying I'm sorry," he said in dramatic testimony late last month that brought some in the courtroom to tears.
His attorneys urged the six-member jury to disregard the case's political undercurrents and award low damages. However, the jury ultimately made 15 individual awards totaling $965 million.
It stated that these would cover both emotional distress and slander and defamation. Jones may be ordered to pay punitive damages separately. However, it is unclear how much money the families will receive, as Jones stated on Wednesday there "ain't no money."
He and his company have filed for bankruptcy in Texas, where a forensic economist testified that they are worth roughly $270 million.
