The US conspiracy theorist confesses to lying

Alex Jones is a star of the right-wing scene in the USA and reaches an audience of millions. He now has to pay a victim’s parents $49 million for his allegations that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was staged.

The conspiracy theories disseminated in “The Alex Jones Show” reach an audience of millions.

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Arguably America’s most influential conspiracy theorists are paying dearly for their lies. Alex Jones has been fined an additional $45.2 million for his false claims about a Sandy Hook elementary school massacre. He is now said to have paid a total of more than $49 million in compensation to a victim’s parents. This was reported by several US media on Friday from the courtroom in Texas. Already on Thursday he had been sentenced to more than 4 million US dollars in damages.

Friday’s verdict is what is known as punitive damages, which is also intended to act as a deterrent and is often significantly higher than the actual damages. For years, Jones had claimed on his portal and in his show, which was broadcast by over a hundred radio stations, that the killing spree with 28 victims was staged to provide a pretext for tightening gun laws. The bereaved and victims are paid actors.

“The massacre was 100 percent real”

In court on Wednesday there was an emotional confrontation between the parents of a six-year-old boy who had been shot and killed with Jones. They not only described the trauma caused by the questioning of their suffering, but also very specific harassment by Jones’ followers. Some of these stalked relatives, demanded evidence and vandalized memorials. The mother of the boy who was killed turned to Jones directly: “Jesse was real. I’m a real mom. I’m not part of a deep state. I know you know that. Yet you keep saying it. Why?”

Jones greets his attorney in court in Texas.  With his mouth taped shut, he wants to point out that the procedure violates his freedom of expression.

Jones greets his attorney in court in Texas. With his mouth taped shut, he wants to point out that the procedure violates his freedom of expression.

Briana Sanchez / Austin American-Statesman / Imago

In his remarkable testimony, the conspiracy theorist bluntly conceded that the Newton massacre was “100 percent true.” It was crazy to say otherwise.

This exposes him as a brazen liar, and millions of his fans will have to wonder what other of his claims this may apply to. After all, he manages the whole hodgepodge of right-wing conspiracy theories: For example, he sees the September 11 attacks as staged, he doubts the birth of Barack Obama in the USA and denies the danger of the corona virus as well as climate change. He also fueled the outlandish rumors that the political elite and Hillary Clinton were running a child trafficking ring in the basement of a Washington pizza parlor, thus providing the basis for the QAnon legend.

Jones is not moving on the fringes of American society. The reach of his portal Infowars was intermittent greater than that of Newsweek or the conservative National Review, and his show has according to their own statements five million listeners a day – that’s more than Tucker Carlson’s audience every night on Fox News, America’s most-watched news program. Jones was also a supporter of Donald Trump, who in turn appeared on his show and tweeted Infowars posts.

The 48-year-old created a whole empire that brought in millions. He published books about his crude views and sells not only merchandising items, but also weapons, sexual enhancers and strange miracle pills that are supposed to make you “aggressive and manly”. This business area is now his main source of income. It didn’t hurt Jones that all platforms like Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Apple and even PayPal blocked his channels in 2018.

Jones’ costs will increase dramatically

Nonetheless, Jones’ company filed for bankruptcy in April, in what many see as a ploy to delay proceedings. What is explosive is a catastrophic mistake by his defense attorneys, who apparently inadvertently sent Jesse’s parents’ lawyer a copy of all of Jones’ smartphone data for the past two years. This creates additional difficulties for the entrepreneur.

For one thing, the court had requested such material, to which Jones claimed there was nothing relevant. This exposes him to further charges of embezzling evidence. On the other hand, according to media reports, the investigative committee in the House of Representatives for the storming of the Capitol is now also interested in the chat messages. In the winter of 2020, Jones had incessantly propagated the lie about the Trump stolen election on his show and also called for a demonstration on January 6, 2021. The committee therefore heard him back in January.

It is clear for the time being that the cost of Jones’ lies will increase drastically. In his spring bankruptcy filing, he said they already totaled $15 million in claims related to the Sandy Hook massacre alone. In addition to the satisfaction determined on Thursday, there will also be a penalty payment that may be several times higher. In addition, two more trials are scheduled for September in cases brought against him by parents of students who were killed.

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