AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A Texas jury has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay $49.3 million in total damages to the parents of a first-grader killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
The final award handed down Friday includes $45.2 million in punitive damages and $4.1 million in compensatory damages.
The parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis say they were tormented by the Infowars host’s false claims that the worst classroom shooting in U.S. history was a hoax orchestrated by the government to tighten gun laws.
Attorneys for the family had urged jurors for a financial punishment that would put Infowars out of business.
One economist testified that Jones and his company were worth up to $270 million.
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