The ‘Infowars’ host had argued the Connecticut school shooting was a hoax<\/b>
\nRight-wing pundit Alex Jones has been found liable for damages in a trio of defamation cases filed against him by the parents of three children who were shot dead in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. A judge in Austin, Texas, where Jones\u2019 conspiracy-pushing Infowars site is based, entered default judgments against the conservative host and his program for \u201cflagrant bad faith and callous disregard\u201d of court orders to surrender documents to attorneys representing the parents in the case. Jones, who said \u201c they clearly used actors \u201d in the Newtown, Conn., slaughter in which a gunman killed 20 students and six staffers, had dismissed the tragedy as a hoax. It was his suggestion that gun-control activists were behind some sort of ruse to draw sympathy to their cause. He later pivoted and conceded the shootings had, in fact, occurred. A jury will decide monetary damages owed to the plaintiffs. Families of the victims complained they\u2019d been harassed by Jones\u2019 unhinged followers and have themselves received death threats. He is also being sued in Connecticut, where cases are still pending. The 47-year-old provocateur\u2019s attorney condemned the Texas ruling, claiming the Lone Star State judge failed to take into account \u201ctens of thousands of documents\u201d provided by the talk show host, whom he said was exercising his right to free speech. A Houston lawyer representing the victims\u2019 families claimed that for years Jones and Infowars failed to turn over documents. \u201cWe believe the Court hit this nail on the head when it considered Alex Jones\u2019 and Infowars\u2019 \u2018bad faith approach to this litigation,\u2019 Mr. Jones\u2019 \u2018public threats,\u2019 and Jones\u2019 \u2018professed belief that these proceedings are show trials,\u2019\u201d attorney Bill Ogden said. He added his clients \u201chave and continue to endure Defendants\u2019 5-year campaign of repulsive lies.\u201d A Texas judge ordered Jones to pay $100,000 in legal fees to for disregarding a court order to produce witnesses in 2019. The conspiracy pushing entertainer was also sanctioned in Connecticut for violating orders to surrender documents in proceedings there. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Jones\u2019 appeal in April. Jones has also claimed the Sept.11 terror attack was an inside job and that the coronavirus was a \u201c made-up virus .\u201d In 2015, he welcomed Donald Trump to Infowars and threw his support behind the Republican candidate. Trump complimented Jones on his \u201camazing\u201d reputation and promised not to disappoint him. Celebrity Net Worth puts Jones\u2019 worth at $5 million. With News Wire Services<\/p>\n