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Infowars founder Alex Jones in court
Photo: Tyler Sizemore/AP
Host Alex Jones has been fined $965 million for his false claims about a Sandy Hook elementary school massacre.
That was decided by a court in the US state of Connecticut on Wednesday, as reported by US media such as the New York Times and CNN from the Waterbury courtroom.
The 48-year-old founder of the right-wing website Infowars had claimed for years that the killing spree in December 2012 was staged by actors.
A 20-year-old shot dead 20 school children and six teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, before taking his own life.
Relatives testify in tears
The lawsuit was filed by relatives of five children and three teachers killed in the massacre -- as well as an FBI agent who was among the first responders at the scene.
At the trial, the victims' parents and siblings tearfully testified about years of threats and harassment from people who believed the lies on Jones' show, according to media reports.
Strangers showed up at their homes to film them, and they were showered with abusive comments on social media.
The amount of 965 million US dollars results from the sum of the damages paid to the 15 plaintiffs.
In August, a Texas grand jury awarded the parents of another child who was killed a total of nearly $50 million.
How much Jones can really pay in the end is still open.
However, the substantial sum that the court set sends a clear message.
Jones, who is influential in radical right-wing circles, has earned a lot of money and a large circle of supporters by spreading conspiracy theories.
He is known as a supporter of former US President Donald Trump.
Jones, for example, endorsed Trump's false claim that the incumbent's defeat by current President Joe Biden in the 2020 election was due to massive fraud.
Jones was also in Washington when radical Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
He was questioned behind closed doors by the parliamentary inquiry into the storming of the Capitol.
His Infowars website filed for bankruptcy in April.
kfr/jok/dpa/AFP
