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UPDATE (March 30 2022, 5:35 p.m. ET): A Connecticut judge on Wednesday held Alex Jones in contempt after he failed to appear for two depositions.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ attempt to evade an upcoming trial over lies he spread about mass shooting victims fell flat on its face this week.
Relatives of those killed in the 2012 mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, quickly rejected a settlement offer from the Infowars host Tuesday.
In November, a judge found Jones liable for damages for repeatedly falsely claiming the shooting was a hoax. He has since said he believes the shooting occurred. He will now face a trial to determine how much he should pay the families.
In his rejected settlement offer, Jones proposed paying $120,000 to each of the 13 plaintiffs to resolve the families’ defamation lawsuit.
"Mr. Jones extends his heartfelt apology for any distress his remarks caused,” according to the settlement offer filed in court Tuesday.
On his far-right podcast and website, Jones frequently peddled the outright lie that the shooting was staged by the government in an attempt to restrict gun ownership. He also faces similar lawsuits filed in Texas over the same disinformation campaign.
The Connecticut plaintiffs weren’t feeling his apology or his offer.
Court filings show lawyers for the plaintiffs rejected “the so-called offer" within hours, denouncing it as "a transparent and desperate attempt by Alex Jones to escape a public reckoning under oath with his deceitful, profit-driven campaign against the plaintiffs and the memory of their loved ones lost at Sandy Hook.”
Just last week, Jones defied a court order to sit for a deposition as part of the Connecticut lawsuit. He claimed health issues prevented him from appearing — even though he continued to host his show.
A judge on Wednesday held Jones in contempt for failing to appear and fined him $25,000 a day until he shows up.
Jones and his legal team are clearly feeling pressure from the lawsuits. His attorney, Norm Pattis, told the website Law & Crime on Tuesday that "it’s time for the litigation to end."
"The shooting took place almost 10 years ago," he added.
Unfortunately for Jones and his allies, the emotional wounds he’s created with his lies may last a lifetime. And the victims of his defamatory campaign of disinformation aren’t going to let him off easy.
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