jones now has to pay the parents of a sandy hook school shooting victim more than $4 million for the cruel and widespread and relentless lies that added to their heartache over a ten-year period. now, of course, this does fall way short of $150 million they did ask for in compensatory damages sought by little jessie lewis parents, a number their attorney said came from the number of people who believed the false claims of the hoax spewed by jones and the baseless arguments that the newtown s grieving parents were actors. the number also factored in the emotional and mental anguish those parents suffered and continue to suffer today for years of harassment by jones and his followers. he finally acknowledged what everyone else hopefully knew to be true, that the massacre was, quote, using his words after what ten years, 100% real. but the $4 million is actually not the end of the story, not in this courtroom, not in texas, because jones legal battles are actually far from
jones now has to pay the parents of a sandy hook school shooting victim more than $4 million for the cruel and widespread and relentless lies that added to their heartache over a ten-year period. now, of course, this does fall way short of $150 million they did ask for in compensatory damages sought by little jessie lewis parents, a number their attorney said came from the number of people who believed the false claims of the hoax spewed by jones and the baseless arguments that the newtown s grieving parents were actors. the number also factored in the emotional and mental anguish those parents suffered and continue to suffer today for years of harassment by jones and his followers. he finally acknowledged what everyone else hopefully knew to be true, that the massacre was,
more. not just this particular trial. once that punitive phase is done. he phases two more trials, one more in texas, and one in connecticut, where the attacks shattered the families of the 26 students and teachers murdered at sandy hook. now, of course, the question is, will any of this stop the relentless campaign of disinformation that made nearly 10 years, 10 full years, of mourning unimaginably worse? in a statement this evening, the lawyer for jessie lewis parents note that they are also due another $1.5 million in fines alone for total of $5.6 million and counting, he says. to quote him, they are thrilled with the result and look forward to putting mr. jones money to good use. mr. jones, on the other hand, will not sleep easy tonight, with punitive damages still to be decided, and multiple additional defamation lawsuits pending. it is clear that mr. jones time on the american stage is finally
compensatory, and say, this wasn t accidental. this wasn t a one-off. this wasn t poor reporting. this was a deliberate attempt to weave a tale over many years at the expense of those families, those sandy hook families, jessie lewis family. i m not going to guess how much the damages were, but jurors will feel entitled to drop the hammer. this is obviously not being thought of in a vacuum. as tragic as sandy hook is, we are talking about the backdrop of misinformation more broadly and a culmination of frustration toward that and accountability. you talk about the idea of grifting. the phrase was used in the january 6th hearing. i think it s a broader conversation. so, if you think it s you said, scott, the idea of sending a message, do you think the message translates more broadly? or do you think this is so