• A Texas jury has ordered Alex Jones to pay more than $49 million in damages to parents of a boy killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
  • The Infowars founder and host faces two more trials to determine damages he and his company Free Speech Systems, owe families of victims in the massacre.
  • The Jan. 6 committee is also expected to subpoena Jones’ cellphone data entered into evidence during the Texas trial.

A jury in Austin, Texas, has put a price on the defamatory behavior of  Infowars founder and host Alex Jones: a total of more than $49 million in damages awarded to the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who at the age of six was among the 20 first graders and six educators killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Connecticut.

The damages, delivered by the jury Friday, were significantly less than the $150 million sought by parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, who testified how the conspiracy theorist’s false claims that the school massacre was a hoax made their lives a “living hell” of death threats, online abuse and other trauma from Jones and his followers. And Texas law could reduce the damages further.

However, Jones faces two additional upcoming defamation trials involving Sandy Hook families, expected to lead to additional damages awarded by juries.

Is Biden making a comeback?:Jobs report and abortion fight give Dems new life

Abortion:Sweeping Indiana ban enacted, the first such law since Roe overturned

What’s next for Alex Jones?

Jones’ attorneys could appeal the damages finding, including an argument that evidence not meant for the case – two years’ worth of cellphone data – was presented to the jury. However, that argument wouldn’t likely convince a judge, John Browning, a trial lawyer and former Texas appellate justice, told Bloomberg Law.

“The fact that (Federico Andino Reynal, the lead attorney for Jones) filed this emergency motion after the testimony, it reeked of desperation,” Browning said.

Later this year, the Austin-based Jones, along with his companies including Infowars and Free Speech Systems, face trials for damages in two additional defamation lawsuits – one filed in Texas by the family of Noah Pozner, and another in Connecticut filed by eight families of Sandy Hook victims. The trial in that Connecticut case is scheduled to begin next month.

The cellphone data snafu could catch up to Jones in multiple ways, too. Mark Bankston, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said the cellphone evidence suggests Jones may have committed perjury during the trial’s discovery period by being untruthful about his text messages.

Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, agreed that prosecutors could possibly file perjury charges against Jones. “His legal problems are not over,” he told CNN. 

What’s everyone talking about?Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day

Bankston also said the January 6 committee, which deposed Jones in January 2022, had requested the phone records, but he wasn’t sure the data covered the time period leading up to and after the incident. In the subpoena letter, Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chairman, has charged that Jones helped organize the Jan. 6 rally and repeatedly promoted President Trump’s false claims of election fraud.

What is Alex Jones’ net worth? Is he bankrupt?

Jones has certainly attempted to depict himself and his operation as hurting financially. In late July, Jones’ main company Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars, filed for bankruptcy. That came months after three of Jones’ other companies including InfoW, which was formerly known as InfoWars, also filed for bankruptcy. During this week’s trial Jones testified that any award over $2 million would “sink us.”