Court slashes $50M judgment against Infowars' Alex Jones over falsely calling school shooting a hoax

AUSTIN, Texas - A Texas court has slashed the $50 million judgment to $1. [KSAT 12]

AUSTIN — A state appellate court significantly reduced a damages award against Infowars founder Alex Jones on Friday, cutting a jury's $50 million verdict to $1.5 million in a case brought by parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

The Texas Third Court of Appeals issued a unanimous decision that determined parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis failed to provide sufficient evidence that harassment stemming from Jones' false statements about the shooting reached the threshold needed to justify awarding damages beyond the state's $750,000 limit per plaintiff. The couple's son, Jesse Lewis, was among 20 children and six educators killed in the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre.

Jones had promoted conspiracy theories claiming the shooting never occurred and was orchestrated by the government to advance gun control measures. During his trial, Jones acknowledged the attack was "100% real" and admitted his previous claims were inaccurate. Despite this acknowledgment, the jury initially awarded the substantial damages judgment in 2022, marking the first time Jones faced financial accountability for spreading misinformation about the tragedy.

The appellate ruling does not impact a separate $1.4 billion judgment Jones faces in Connecticut related to the same false statements. Jones' defense team had signaled immediately following the initial jury verdict that they would challenge the damages amount, with his attorney projecting the figure could be reduced to approximately $1.5 million — a prediction that proved accurate.

Jones has portrayed the legal proceedings as an infringement on his First Amendment rights. The media personality and his company, Free Speech Systems, are currently navigating bankruptcy proceedings. In a separate development, satirical publication The Onion has launched efforts to acquire Jones' Infowars platforms and convert them into parody content. Jones relinquished control of the Infowars brand in April and has since relocated his operations to alternative websites and his personal social media account.