Supreme Court rejects Alex Jones' appeal in Sandy Hook case
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InfoWars founder Alex Jones speaks to the media outside Waterbury Superior Court during his trial on September 21, 2022, in Waterbury, Connecticut. Photo: Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
The Supreme Court on Tuesday shot down far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' and his company's request to review the more than $1.4 billion judgment he was ordered to pay to the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims.
The big picture: Jones has exhausted a number of avenues to fight his debts with his show, brand and millions of dollars on the line.
- After years in bankruptcy court, the families of the slain children are one step closer to collecting what they're owed.
What they're saying: Chris Mattei, the attorney representing the Sandy Hook families and the former FBI agent who responded to the shooting and later sued, praised the ruling.
- In a statement posted on X, he said, "The Supreme Court properly rejected Jones's latest desperate attempt to avoid accountability for the harm he has caused. We look forward to enforcing the jury's historic verdict and making Jones and Infowars pay for what they have done."
Driving the news: As is custom, the court did not provide a reason why they turned Jones away on their Tuesday order list.
Flashback: Jones claimed the 2012 massacre, which killed 26 people, was a hoax, and prosecutors said these lies unleashed a wave of harassment toward the families.
- He filed for bankruptcy in late 2022. That came after a Connecticut jury ordered him to pay more than $960 million in damages in October of that year, followed by a judge ordering him and his company to pay an additional $473 million in damages.
- That was on top of a separate $49.3 million judgment imposed in Texas.
State of play: Connecticut Judge Barbara Bellis issued a default judgment in Jones' case in 2021, saying he refused to turn over evidence and follow court rules, the Associated Press reported at the time.
- Jones and his company argued in his petition to the high court that the Sandy Hook families are public figures and that Jones was commenting on matters of "public concern."
- The petition also claimed there was no defamation, writing, "[t]he media landscape is rife with groups challenging various events, including Holocaust denial, moon landing skepticism, 9/11 conspiracy theories, and even flat Earth claims."
- Earlier this month, Jones asked the Supreme Court to pause the millions in damages he was ordered to pay, saying that if not put on hold, "InfoWars will have been acquired by its ideological nemesis and destroyed." Satire site The Onion previously won a bankruptcy auction for Infowars, but a judge blocked the sale citing flaws in the bidding process.
Catch up quick: Last month, DOJ official Ed Martin sent a letter to Mattei questioning if the former FBI agent who responded to the shooting financially benefited from the litigation.
- Jones posted the letter from Martin, who serves as the DOJ's Weaponization Working Group director and as the department's pardon attorney.
- "As you may know, there are criminal laws protecting the citizens from action by government employees who may be acting for personal benefit," the letter requesting information read. "I encourage you to review those."
- Martin, with whom Jones also shared a photo, later withdrew his request, CNN reported.
Go deeper: The ongoing legal troubles of Alex Jones
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional context.
