Supreme Court Rejects Alex Jones Appeal, Still Must Pay Sandy Hook Victims $1.4 Billion

The Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to hear an appeal from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who asked the high court to review the $1.4 billion judgment a lower court awarded families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Jones was ordered by a Connecticut jury in 2022 to pay the massive sum to the families of the victims, whom he had claimed were crisis actors and somehow involved in a government false flag operation. The families sued Jones following years of harassment from his listeners.

Jones has long stirred controversy with his conspiracy-minded show Infowars. He appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the lower court judge wrongly found him liable for defamation without litigating the merit of his Sandy Hook claims, which he acknowledged in court were wrong. The Supreme Court did not give a reason for refusing to hear the case.

Jones was also found liable for defamation in a separate case in Texas and ordered to pay $46 million in damages, a case he is also appealing.

Jones’s wild claims led to years of harassment for the grieving parents, including his followers desecrating the graves of the murdered children. Jone’s quickly declared bankruptcy in December of 2022 in what many saw as a bid to not pay the damages. The AP reported at the time:

Jones has been saying on his web and radio shows that he expects Infowars to operate for a few more months before it is shut down because of the bankruptcy. But he has vowed to continue his bombastic broadcasts in some other fashion, possibly on social media. He also had talked about someone else buying the company and allowing him to continue his shows as an employee.

The satirical website The Onion tried to buy Infowars during a bankruptcy auction in Texas, but a judge later tossed the sale, citing issues with The Onion’s bid.

This is a developing story and has been updated.