'Do these people actually think they're getting any of this money'
As a judge on Wednesday ordered Alex Jones to pay nearly $1 billion in damages to the families of Sandy Hook victims the Infowars host held a livestream where he mocked the verdict and also begged listeners to help him foot the bill.
A Connecticut jury ordered the far-right conspiracy theorist to pay $965 million (£545 million) in damages to families of the victims in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 20 first graders and six adults were killed. Jones has spent years circulating conspiracy theories about the shooting, including saying that it was a hoax intended to rile support for gun restrictions.
Jones was hosting his show when the verdict was announced and said he plans to appeal it, suggesting that it was simply a "scare tactic". To do that, he needs money from his fans, he said.
“They want to scare everyone away from freedom and scare us away from questioning Uvalde, and what really happened there or Parkland or any other event and guess what? We’re not scared, and we’re not going away, and we’re not going to stop," Jones told listeners.
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Before continuing: “Literally for hundreds of thousands of dollars, I can keep them in court for years, I can appeal this stuff, we can stand up against this travesty against the billions of dollars they want. It’s a joke.”
The radio talk show host then urged his fans to visit the InfoWars website to purchase items, with proceeds going towards Jones continuing to fight his case.
Insider reported that Jones also said: "Do these people actually think they're getting any of this money?" Jones said.
Legal experts told the publication it is unlikely Jones will be able to escape the judgement, even if he never pays it in full.
Matthew Barhoma, attorney and founder of Power Trial Lawyers and Barhoma Law suggested the debt might "follow him for the rest of his life".
Lawyers told Insider the damages were stunning for a defamation case, with Barhoma calling the payout a "jaw-dropping" figure.
Despite Jones's dismissal of the damages, also spelling trouble for him is the fact that the jury awarded them as "compensatory" damages rather than "punitive."
"Punitive are simply looking to punish a defendant. compensatory damages are looking to make a plaintiff whole," Barhoma said, adding that although Jones is certain to appeal, an appellate court will be less likely to interfere with compensatory damages delivered by a jury.
Also of significance is that compensatory damages are not capped in Connecticut, which will add a further barrier to Jones' appeal.
Harry Litman, a former US attorney, made a similar prediction in an appearance on MSNBC on Wednesday.
"We're talking about such outsized numbers that even if he's able to bob and weave some, I just don't see how he winds up anything but basically broke now for the rest of his life," he said. In addition to an appeal, Jones will likely pursue other means to avoid paying out the families in full, such as a settlement or bankruptcy.
Barhoma noted to Insider that it is generally difficult to get this kind of debt forgiven in bankruptcy proceedings.
Jones has claimed to be basically broke, but an economist who testified at another Jones trial in Texas estimated he and his company were worth somewhere between $135 million and $270 million.
Jones's company filed for bankruptcy in July in what some saw as an effort to avoid being ordered to pay major damages.
