As a Connecticut jury read their verdict on Wednesday — awarding nearly $1 billion in compensatory damages to families of Sandy Hook shooting victims negatively impacted by Alex Jones' claims that the tragedy was a hoax — statements are already being made by the Infowars camp that, somehow, the bank-busting debt is actually a win for Jones in his efforts to champion "the truth."
Infowars host Owen Shroyer aired an emergency broadcast of his "War Room" show once the total damages had been announced to pat Jones on the back for what the rest of the world views as a financially crippling loss.
Comparing Jones to the likes of Muhammad Ali in terms of how the Connecticut verdict will make him fight even harder, Shroyer joked about the Sandy Hook families waiting for their checks to be cut saying "They aint coming."
Jones, who was not present for the reading of this verdict, gave a broadcast of his own on Infowars echoing Shroyer's statements.
"As the jury reads the damages and the Sandy Hook parents weep, Alex Jones is on his broadcast, laughing and assuring his audience that he won't actually be paying any of this money," Tweets Brandy Zadrozny, Senior Reporter for NBC News, along with a clip of Jones making light of the verdict.
As the jury reads the damages and the Sandy Hook parents weep, Alex Jones is on his broadcast, laughing and assuring his audience that he won't actually be paying any of this money.
— Brandy Zadrozny (@BrandyZadrozny) October 12, 2022
"Do these people actually think they're getting any of this money?" pic.twitter.com/k9brmHaBWC
The exact sum of Wednesday's verdict, $965 million, will be split amongst 15 plaintiffs, according to The New York Times.
"Absolutely astronomical figures in this InfoWars lawsuit out of Connecticut," Tweets Ben Collins, Senior Reporter for NBC News. "Alex Jones owes $229 million to just the first three plaintiffs, all family members of Sandy Hook victims. There are nine more plaintiffs to go . . . Alex Jones makes an enormous amount of money, but not this much."
Erica Lafferty, daughter of slain Sandy Hook Elementary principal, Dawn Hochsprung, spoke to reporters after the reading of the latest verdict saying "I wish that after today, I could just be a daughter grieving her mother and stop worrying about conspiracy theorists sending me threats or worse. But I know that this is not the end of Alex Jones in my life. I know that his hates, his hate, lies and conspiracy theories will follow both me and my family through the rest of our days. But I'm also hopeful for what happened here today. That it may save other families from high-profile tragedies from the cycle of abuse and re-traumatization that we have all been put through as we simply tried to survive the hardest days, weeks, and years of our lives."
