December 2022 marked 10 years since the horrific mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012. That unfathomable tragedy–in which 20 six-and seven-year-old children and six adult school staff members were killed by a lone gunman–devastated the quiet New England community and the entire nation.
As the grieving families began the lifelong healing process, they were further pained when Infowars owner and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones falsely and repeatedly claimed on his broadcasts that the shooting was a hoax and that the victims were actors in a plot to destroy gun rights in the U.S.
“The families endured awful harassment that started on Infowars and permeated their lives,” says Christopher Mattei of the law firm Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder (Koskoff). Located just 20 miles away from Newtown, Koskoff had roots in the community and represented many of the plaintiffs in a liability suit against the manufacturer of the weapon used in the shooting.
Fifteen individuals targeted by Jones’ remarks (including one FBI agent whom Jones had accused of being an actor) had endured enough of the broadcasted lies and harassment, and in 2018, Koskoff lawyers Christopher Mattei, Josh Koskoff, Alinor Sterling and Matt Blumenthal led the charge in the defamation suit against the infamous conspiracy theorist.
“Due to Alex Jones’ lies,” Mattei notes, “Infowars listeners were tormenting surviving family members in-person and online—with some being called ‘liars and frauds,’ while others received threats of death and rape. There was no way we could let this continue and were determined to stop it at the source.”
Despite the severity of the charges, Jones continued to use Infowars as a platform to antagonize the Koskoff team and the plaintiffs. On one installment of his show, Jones referred to Mattei and announced a $1 million bounty for his “head on a pike.” A former Assistant United States Attorney, Mattei had tried high-profile cases in the past that received national media attention—but suddenly found himself targeted by the defendant and his hostile audience.
“[Jones] had done similar things in the past and we knew it could have real-life repercussions,” says Mattei, who has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs since 2020. “It concerned my family a bit and our firm’s staff who are amazing but not accustomed to being in the middle of controversy. It was very upsetting and disturbing for them.”
Jones was sanctioned by the court for the statement and lost his special motion to dismiss, which he appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court and also lost. Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis cited inappropriate conduct by Jones’ attorneys regarding depositions and the “callous disregard of their obligation” to turn over financial and web analytics data.
Though Jones eventually conceded that the shooting was not a hoax in a separate trial in Texas, he displayed courtroom antics in Connecticut that transcended typical legal maneuvers. Most notably, he referred to Judge Bellis as a “tyrant” and unsuccessfully tried to remove her from presiding over the case. Following additional over-the-top stall tactics by Jones’ lawyers in court, Judge Bellis issued a default in the lawsuits, one of the harshest sanctions possible.
Infowars listeners were tormenting surviving family members in-person and online—with some being called ‘liars and frauds,’ while others received threats of death and rape.”
With Jones’ inability to win established, the trial in Connecticut Superior Court commenced in Fall 2022 to determine damages. Throughout the hearings, Koskoff’s trial team stood in the unenviable position of questioning the uncooperative and oftentimes combative defendant. Their poise, professionalism and ability to remain on point clearly convinced the jury of the harm Jones had caused.
On October 12, 2022, the jury awarded a historic $965 million in defamation and emotional distress damages to be paid by Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems (parent company of Infowars).
“Once the testimony came out at trial, it was a revelation to the world about both what these families had gone through, and also just how endangered their lives had become,” Mattei notes. “Some had to move and others were being confronted in person and intimidated by Jones’ audience. These lies deprived the families of their ability to grieve properly and unleashed a decade of fear and abuse that compounded their unimaginable loss.”
In November 2022, Judge Bellis also temporarily blocked Jones from transferring or moving assets out of the U.S. at the request of the plaintiffs who claimed Jones would attempt to avoid payment. Just one week later, the judge ordered Jones and Free Speech Systems to pay an additional $473 million in punitive damages to eight of the plaintiff families as well as the FBI agent.
Though Free Speech Systems had already filed a bankruptcy claim in August 2022 and Jones later filed for Chapter 11 personal bankruptcy protection in Texas in December, the filing noted that the estimated worth of Jones’ assets was between $1 and $10 million, with liabilities between $1 and $10 billion. Koskoff has aligned with a bankruptcy firm in Texas to ensure that justice is carried out and that Jones does not avoid compensating the plaintiffs.
“The results will stay on everyone’s minds,” Mattei says. “Every time Alex Jones’ name is mentioned, so will be the verdicts and the damages. We showed in court that there are real consequences for projecting lies and misinformation and our case hopefully helps society-at-large understand the threats and risks that misinformation poses. I hope it stands out as an inflection point for how we deal with this in the future.”
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