Alex Jones is liable for damages over false conspiracy claims about the Sandy Hook massacre, judge rules

KEY POINTS

• A Texas judge ruled that right-wing conspiracy monger Alex Jones is legally responsible for damages caused by his false claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a "giant hoax."
• Default judgments were issued against Jones and Infowars for failing to comply with orders to produce documents for two lawsuits brought by the families of two children killed in the shooting.
• The court will convene a jury to decide how much he will owe the plaintiffs. 

Alex Jones of Infowars talks to the media while visiting the U.S. Senate's Dirksen Senate office building as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 5, 2018. 

Alex Jones Host of InfoWars

A Texas judge ruled that right-wing conspiracy monger Alex Jones is legally responsible for damages caused by his false claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting nine years ago was a "giant hoax."

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble on Monday issued default judgments against Jones and his website Infowars for failing to comply with orders to produce documents for two lawsuits brought by the families of two children killed in the shooting, according to court documents.

The rulings, released Thursday, mean that Jones lost the cases by default. The court will convene a jury to decide how much he will owe the plaintiffs. 

Jones and Infowars attorney Norm Pattis released a statement Thursday slamming the judge's ruling.

"The trial court's entry of a default in these cases is stunning," the statement said. "It takes no account of the tens of thousands of documents produced by the defendants, the hours spent sitting for depositions and the various sworn statements filed in these cases."

"We are distressed by what we regard as a blatant abuse of discretion by the trial court," the statement continued. "We are determined to see that these cases are heard on the merits."

Jones' attorney, Brad Reeves, did not immediately respond for comment. 

In December 2012, a shooter with an AR-15-style rifle entered Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 26 people, including six educators and 20 small children in Newtown, Connecticut. Since the shooting, Jones has repeatedly claimed that it was carried out by "crisis actors" who oppose the Second Amendment. 

As a result, Jones has lost several defamation lawsuits brought by families and victims in the shooting. In 2019, for instance, Jones was ordered to pay $100,000 in court costs and legal fees to parents of Sandy Hook victims for promoting falsehoods about the shooting. 

During a sworn deposition for the same case in 2019, Jones acknowledged that the shooting was real and claimed that "a form of psychosis" made him question whether the event was staged when it occurred in 2012, CNN reported Friday.