Alex Jones, the host of Infowars, will be reimbursed the $75,000 he was fined for failing to appear for depositions in a defamation suit stemming from the 2012 Sandy Hook school tragedy. Jones was fined $25,000 on the first day and $50,000 on the second day for failure to appear after the relatives of eight victims of the school massacre, as well as an FBI agent, sued Jones for defamation. The radio broadcaster said the incident never took place.
While Jones missed two days of testimony in March, he finished two days in early April. After his first day of testimony, Jones said on his Infowars show, “I could’ve done a better job on Sandy Hook. Some of the anomalies that we reported on were not accurate, and I admitted it years before I was sued.”
Jones’ attorneys claimed that the radio host went above and beyond what was required by listening to depositions outside normal business hours and should be refunded for the fines, according to NBC News. The plaintiffs, on the other hand, wanted Jones imprisoned for failing to appear, claiming that he was well enough to go on his radio show three times that week.
The suit alleged fans of Jones harassed the families and made death threats after he claimed the shooting was a false flag. Jones has subsequently admitted that the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 20 first-graders and six school personnel was genuine. Jones offered a $120,000 settlement but it was rejected last month by the parties in the defamation claim, which was filed four years ago in Waterbury Superior Court. His lawyers have been trying to get the case dismissed for more than a year.
Jones was found liable for damages in a lawsuit in Connecticut and another in Texas. Additionally, in February, the families of the victims negotiated a $73 million settlement with the maker of the firearm used in the attack.
