US judge orders Alex Jones to pay additional $473M for school shooting lies

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - A US judge has ordered far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay an additional $473 million in damages after he made false statements claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre that left 26 people dead was a hoax, according to local media on Friday.

Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis, who presided over the case, imposed the extra punitive damages on Jones and his company on Thursday, the Washington Post reported.

Jones and his media company Free Speech Systems involved in "attacks on the plaintiffs for nearly a decade, including during the trial, wanton, malicious and heinous conduct," Bellis said.

"This depravity, and cruel, persistent course of conduct by the defendants establishes the highest degree of reprehensibility and blameworthiness," she added.

Thursday’s decision was the third major financial blow for Jones in relation to his defamatory claims.

A US jury last month ordered Jones to pay $965 million in damages to 15 plaintiffs.

The victims included 20 school children. Jones falsely claimed the horrific mass shooting never happened and said the victims' families were crisis actors paid in an effort to restrict US gun ownership rights.

The jury in the state of Connecticut decided on damages for slander and emotional distress caused by Jones' false statements at the conclusion of the heavily-watched defamation trial.

In August, he was ordered to pay nearly $50 million by a court in the state of Texas.

A 20-year-old gunman went on a shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012, murdering 20 students and six teachers. He also killed his mother before carrying out his deadly assault at the school.

The shooter killed himself as police arrived at the scene.