Alex Jones found liable in Sandy Hook defamation lawsuit

Driving the news: Judge Barbara Bellis ruled that Jones was liable by default for failing to "produce critical material information that the plaintiffs needed to prove their claims," AP reports.

• Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families had requested internal documents that would show if Jones had profited from talking about the school shooting and other mass shootings, per AP.
• Last month, a Texas judge issued a similar ruling in three defamation lawsuits stemming from Jones' unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.

What they're saying: "Their pattern of defying and ignoring court orders to produce responsive information is well established," lawyers for the family wrote in a court brief obtained by AP.

Flashback: After the shooting killed 26 people, 20 of whom were young children, Jones caught backlash as he began to call the shooting a "false flag" operation planned by "crisis actors," Axios' Shawna Chen writes.

What to watch: Bellis ordered a hearing to determine how much Jones should pay the families in damages.