Alex Jones Is a Symptom of a Much Larger Problem in America
After harassing and defaming grieving Sandy Hook parents, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones may finally get what’s coming to him. But as long as the nation’s most powerful institutions fail to earn the public’s trust, hucksters like Jones will always find an audience.
Alex Jones at Creative Media Center at Austin Studios on March 12, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Gary Miller / Getty Images)
Alex Jones responded to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 by accusing the victim’s families of being part of a conspiracy to fake the massacre in order to promote gun control. The result of Jones’s claim was a nightmare for the parents, and several of them sued him for defamation.
After years of delays and obstruction, judges in Texas and Connecticut ruled him liable by default for his failure to fulfill his legal obligation to cooperate with the process. The only remaining issue is how much he’ll have to pay out.
Developments in Jones’s trial this week have greatly increased the chance that he’ll have to start shelling out serious money. That’s a good thing. Jones made wildly inflammatory accusations against grieving parents without a shred of evidence — and he did it in order to draw viewers, listeners, and clicks to his media business Infowars and related profit-making ventures. He’s a despicable person.
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