Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has lost two lawsuits brought by family members of two victims killed in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, HuffPost reported. The court issued a judgment against the Infowars host because he did not produce discovery records, causing him to lose the suits by default. The rulings were issued Monday but were not made public until Thursday.
Since the 2012 school shooting, in which 20 young children and six adults were murdered, Jones has repeatedly accused Sandy Hook families of being “crisis actors,” calling the event a “giant hoax” and “false flag” operation. As a result, Jones has lost several defamation suits related to Sandy Hook. In 2019, Jones was ordered to pay tens of thousands in court costs and legal fees to parents of Sandy Hook victims in separate suits.
In the two cases decided Monday, in which he was being sued for damages, Jones had been blocking the legal discovery process by failing to provide requested documents and evidence, leading plaintiff’s lawyer Mark Bankston to tell Gamble earlier this month, “We still don’t have the most basic information about this case.”
That missing evidence included transcripts and video of his remarks about Sandy Hook as well as social media content and internal company emails.
“Now we’re talking about having to find people three years out … to see who was involved in this case, who might still have documents,” Bankston said, according to The Austin-American Statesman. “The quality of the evidence and of people’s memories all degrades.”
The attorney added that Jones also refused to answer numerous questions during a sworn deposition.
In the ruling, the judge cited Jones’s legal shenanigans as a reason for her ruling against him in this manner. “Furthermore, in considering whether lesser remedies would be effective, this Court has also considered Defendants’ general bad faith approach to litigation, Mr. Jones’ public threats, and Mr. Jones’ professed belief that these proceedings are ‘show trials’,” the court rulings said.
A jury will next decide the amount Jones will owe to the plaintiffs.