Texas slashes $50m judgment against Alex Jones over false claim Sandy Hook shooting was hoax

A Texas appeals court has reduced the $50 million judgment against Alex Jones, founder of the right-wing media platform Infowars, to $1.5 million over his false claim that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. The ruling, issued by the Texas Third Court of Appeals, does not alter the massive $1.4 billion judgment against Jones in Connecticut.

The unanimous decision states that the Sandy Hook families, Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, did not provide enough evidence that Jones's hoax claims led to increased harassment, which would have allowed them to surpass the state's $750,000 damages cap. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Jones's appeal of the larger award but did not disclose the reason for its decision.

Jones has been struggling to meet the awarded sums, including a forced bankruptcy in 2024 where he admitted to paying the Sandy Hook families. Jones has consistently fought to maintain control of Infowars, the influential right-wing business he launched in the late 1990s, where he disseminated conspiracy theories and profitably marketed herbal supplements.

Recently, the satirical website The Onion proposed to lease Infowars, intending to transform it into a parody of itself. However, the deal remains in limbo due to ongoing legal appeals. The lawsuit and the 2022 verdict against Jones were the first instances where he faced financial penalties for spreading lies about the Sandy Hook massacre, which claimed the lives of 20 children and six educators.

Heslin and Lewis rejected an apology from Jones, insisting he pay for the years of trauma he inflicted upon them and other Sandy Hook families. Jones's legal team predicted the damages amount would be reduced, and they confirmed the $1.5 million decision.