A jury in Connecticut has ordered conspiracy theoristAlex Jonesand the parent company of Infowars to pay $965 million to eight families who lost loved ones in theSandy Hook Elementary School shooting, as well as an FBI agent who was at the scene, for repeatedly lying that the massacre was hoax.
On Wednesday, a jury in Waterbury found Jones liable for defamation after saying the shooting was “manufactured” and that the parents who lost their children in the massacre were actors,The New York Times,CNNand the Associated Press report.
Alex Jones.Matt York/AP/Shutterstock
Just after 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 14, 2012, 20 children and six adults were fatally shot in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history and the first at an elementary school.
Jones' legions of fans believed his fabrications and he and his parent company, Free Speech Systems, made millions of dollars.
Victims' families then became the targets of harassment and death threats.
Mark Barden said people who believed the shooting was a hoax said they urinated on the grave of his 7-year-old son, Daniel, and said they were going to dig up his grave, according to the AP.
For more on this story, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
In August, the right-wing radio host was ordered topay $45.2 million in punitive damagesand $4.1 million for the suffering he inflicted on Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis, 6, was killed in the shooting.
Jones has one more upcoming trial to find out how much he must pay Lenny Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose son Noah Pozner died in the shooting, in damages after they won a defamation suit against him.
During Jones' broadcast on Wednesday, he said there “ain’t no money” to pay the plaintiffs, CNN reports.
After the verdict, Jones' attorney, Norm Pattis, said he plans to appeal.
In criticizing the verdict outside the courthouse, Pattis said that the families have been “used for political purposes.”
On the day of the shooting, Jones said in an episode of Infowars that the shooting might have been a staged event. Weeks later, he told a caller that “Sandy Hook is synthetic, completely fake with actors, in my view, manufactured,“NPR reported.
Jones' parent company is now in bankruptcy,The New York Timesreports.
The plaintiffs in the case say they believe Infowars declared bankruptcy as a way for Jones avoid paying the massive amount of damages he owes, according toThe New York Times.
For the trial, Jones flew to Connecticut in a private jet and stayed in a rented villa with a pool and tennis court,The New York Timesreports.
Jones' attorneys did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
