Jury finds Alex Jones caused $4.1 million in damages to two Sandy Hook parents

Anderson Cooper 360

CNN

News

3.7 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2022

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A jury found that right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones caused parents of a Sandy Hook victim a little more than $4 million in compensatory damages, far less than the $150 million they were asking for. Scarlett Lewis and Neil Haslin lost their son Jesse Lewis in the 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and six adults. Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times is the author of “Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth” and has been in court for the trial. She tells AC360 what the mood was like in the courtroom when the verdict was read. Plus, CNN Chief National Affairs Analyst Kasie Hunt joins AC360 after sitting down with Republican Rep. Liz Cheney for an exclusive interview. She talks to the vice chair of the January 6 House Select Committee about whether she thinks the former President should face criminal charges for his role in the insurrection. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Good Thursday evening to you, $4.1 million and counting.
0:06.4	That is how much the lies and conspiracy theories spread by Alex Jones about the mass shooting
0:11.9	at Sandy Hook Elementary School that you'll remember killed 20 children and six adults
0:17.5	will now cost him a number that may grow.
0:20.1	I'm Jim Chudo in tonight for Anderson.
0:22.2	The Texas Juries Award for Compensatory Damages was far less than families had requested,
0:28.0	however, there is still the question of punitive damages, plus the Info Wars host also faces
0:34.1	two more trials involving families of those killed at Sandy Hook.
0:37.4	Today, an attorney for the parents in this Texas case told CNN they are, quote, thrilled
0:43.2	by the jury's decision.
0:44.9	Remember, Jones is the man who claimed repeatedly, including directly to the parents of the
0:49.6	children murdered in Sandy Hook that it was all a lie and never happened.
0:55.2	Let's go right to CNN's Drew Griffin who's been following this trial from the start and
0:58.6	Drew first break down this verdict for us.
1:01.9	How exactly did the jury get to this figure, $4.1 million?
1:05.7	Well, the jury was asked a series of questions.
1:08.1	Keep in mind the jury came in this only for the punishment phase or the money phase.
1:12.5	Alex Jones was found liable by default in this case.
1:16.9	One of the default cases was against the father of six-year-old Jesse Lewis, his name
1:21.3	is Neil Hessland.
1:23.1	And he claimed defamation.
1:25.6	That defamation is what the jury rewarded the least for.
	...

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