$45.2 Million

From Yahoo:

“Alex Jones ordered to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages in Sandy Hook defamation case”

A day after concluding that Infowars founder Alex Jones must pay the parents of a 6-year-old boy killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School $4.1 million in compensatory damages for falsely claiming that the massacre was a hoax, a jury in Austin, Texas, on Friday ordered Jones to pay an additional $45.2 million in punitive damages.

In all, the jury ordered Jones to pay $49.3 million in damages — less than the $150 million sought by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse was killed in the Dec. 14, 2012, attack in Newtown, Conn. The punitive phase of the trial featured one witness — forensic economist Bernard Pettingill — who estimated the combined net worth of Jones and his media company Free Speech Systems to be between $135 million and $160 million. Jones claimed in court that he has a negative net worth of $20 million. Pettingill said he based part of his valuation on Jones's "rabid" fanbase. "He is a very, very successful man," Pettingill said in his testimony. "He didn't ride a wave. He created it."

On Thursday, the same jury awarded Heslin and Lewis $4.1 million for defamation as a result of Jones and Infowars spreading the conspiracy theory that the attack that killed their son and 19 other children and six educators nearly a decade ago was staged. Heslin and Lewis sought $150 million. Lawyers for Jones argued that he should pay $8 — one dollar for each of the compensation charges the jury was considering. Ten of the 12 jurors agreed on the verdict — the minimum number required for a decision in the compensatory phase. In awarding punitive damages, the verdict must be unanimous. Wesley Todd Ball, a lawyer for the parents, thanked the jury for helping to restore Jesse's "honor" and implored the panel to punish Jones for his defamatory claims. "We ask that you send a very simple message," Ball said Friday. "And that is, stop Alex Jones. Stop the monetization of misinformation and lies. Please. "That man will sit here and spew his lies and misinformation as long as he keeps getting a check," he added. "He's not going to stop. They won't stop unless you stop them." Ball asked that the jury award $145.9 million in punitive damages — which would bring the combined total to the $150 million figure that the parents were seeking.

^ $45.2 Million is a good punishment for his decade of telling lies. Anyone who still believes Jones now should be prepared to pay with their own money for helping to spread lies that hurt or threaten to hurt innocent people. I hope more of the other Victims and their Families go after Jones for his decade of lies. He claimed in court to be Bankrupt and he lied about that too. Hopefully, he soon really will be Bankrupt.  ^

https://www.yahoo.com/news/alex-jones-sandy-hook-defamation-trial-punitive-damages-173243257.html