Jones Ordered to Pay $473M in Punitive Damanges, Assets Frozen
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his company were ordered Thursday to pay an extra $473 million to victims' families and an FBI agent for calling the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting a hoax, adding to a nearly $1 billion jury verdict issued last month. Connecticut Judge Barabara Bellis imposed the punitive damages on the Infowars host and Free Speech Systems. Jones repeatedly told his millions of followers t he massacre that killed 20 first graders and six educators was staged by "crisis actors" to enact more gun control.
Jones was temporarily blocked from transferring any assets or spending money other than for ordinary living expenses by the judge overseeing the Sandy Hook defamation trial in Connecticut. State court Judge Barbara Bellis issued the freezing order late Wednesday over concerns that he was "looting" his own estate and hiding assets through a series of shell companies owned by family members.