[ad_1]
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Infowars host Alex Jones has offered to pay $120,000 per plaintiff to settle a lawsuit brought by relatives of Sandy Hook Elementary School victims, who said they had defamed themselves by claiming the massacre never happened, according to court filings Tuesday. This offer was quickly rejected by the families.
A Connecticut judge found Jones liable for damages in November, and a lawsuit is scheduled to determine how much he must pay the families.
Plaintiffs said their followers faced harassment and death threats because of the hoax conspiracy introduced on Jones’ show.
Court files posted on the Internet said: “Mr. Jones extends his most sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by his words.”
Last week, Jones defied a court order to testify near his home in Austin, Texas, to testify before the trial. Jones said he was sick. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, following plaintiffs’ request to sanction Jones for his failure to cooperate.
The families’ lawyers rejected the settlement offer within hours, saying in court filings that it was “a transparent and desperate attempt by Alex Jones to evade a sworn public account with his deceptive, profit-driven campaign against the plaintiffs, and the memory of loved ones who disappeared on Sandy Hook.”
Twenty first-year students and six educators were killed in a shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. The families of eight victims and an FBI agent responding to the school sued Jones, Infowars, and others in Connecticut for fraudulent conspiracy. Jones has since said he believes the shooting took place.
Jones was also found liable for damages in similar lawsuits filed in Texas by relatives of the Sandy Hook victims and will be tried later this year.
[ad_2]
Source link