this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
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Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones cannot use his personal bankruptcy to escape paying at least $1.1 billion in defamation damages stemming from his repeated lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday.

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Sure, totally fine, that would be pretty typical. But we all know it was not 1b dollars.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Maybe the death threats from his fans and having to go into hiding because of his rhetoric bumped up price. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I'm sure there were many parents in the jury that have had enough of the bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Death threats are illegal, but Alex Jones did not make the death threats. Does he share some responsibility? probably. But he was not the one making death threats and did not instruct his followers to make them. That changes it from "intent" to just being irresponsible.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Surely you followed the trials, since you have an opinion. Jones had so many opportunities to make that case, and didn't. Stalling, lying, and fighting with the courts did not work out well for him. Calling the judge names outside of court and denying everything also did not work for him.

Reviewing the income statements and the effects it had on everyone's lives, the jurors came up with a number that was the sum. In two different cases as well.

It is not as cut and dry as "he shouldn't be punished, and this was too much"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Conservative estimates put his companies earnings at 300 million a year. So ya I'd say it was pretty close since he went on about it for quite awhile. Also don't forget that during the lawsuit he hid money, lied in court, hid evidence and even refused to show up to court. I think his punishment is more than fitting. This guy knowingly lied about families who were devastated to make money, affecting those families lives to the point that they had to move and go into hiding. Fuck Alex Jones, he's a shit human being and I hope he spends the rest of his life mopping restrooms in a truck stop somewhere.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I find it very hard to believe he was earning 300m a year in profit. I would like a source on that.

Civil courts are not in the business of handing out punishments btw. Once again proving my point that you hate the guy so much that you overlook the abuse of the civil court system to put him in debt for life through a completely irrationally outsized amount of damages.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This one shows his companies net worth https://apnews.com/article/alex-jones-sandy-hook-shooting-bankruptcy-0d127381842dde05e7753870463e338e

This one shows his companies estimated earnings per year based off an email he tried to hide from the courts. https://www.npr.org/2022/08/03/1115414563/alex-jones-sandy-hook-case

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

if you read the article, they are extrapolating a single day over a year, despite it being said that the day was "the best day of sales". So no, they are not making 300m a year. It's extremely misleading to claim that he was earning 300m a year in profit from that one statement.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you read the article Alex Jones claimed it was the best day of sales. It is extremely misleading to claim also that one day of sales is the only information that would be used to determine how much money a company makes. The email was used to contradict the claims that Infowars and his other companies are barely getting by and that's why he had to file bankruptcy.

Alex Jones started hiding money, refused to provide company documents to the courts and skipped trials. If his account of his finances is closer to the truth then why did he not provide that evidence. Hey, if you just want to take the word of a proven liar that your prerogative and if Alex Jones wanted to prove that his companies only make what he says that they make them he could have easily provided that evidence. Better yet even if his companies only make twenty million a year maybe he should have realized a lot sooner to shut his mouth when he realized his words were ruining people's lives and potentially putting them in danger because his followers were confronting these poor people. Instead of stopping when Alex realized this he threw more gas on the fire. Of course this is only one instance of this happening, there are many examples of his lies causing harm because his followers believe him.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You are deflecting from what I am criticizing you for. You said 300m a year was a "conservative" estimate when in reality it's an extremely optimistic (and wrongly based off of a single day extrapolated) estimate. Just admit it was misleading and we can move on.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You have 0 proof that it is conservative, you are basing that on the word of a proven liar. That figure in particular could easily be an average day figure or a slow day.

I'm not sure what I'm deflecting because all of your proof is taken from the word of a proven liar and fraud. Just admit you're a troll and we can move on

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You have 0 proof that it is conservative

You are the one claiming it was conservative, not me. And considering you based it off of a single day that was notably one of the best days, yes it is misinformation to claim that 300m is a conservative estimate. Read the fucking article you got your info from, I'm not taking jones at his word. I'm looking at the source you provided and based your info off of. Read your own posts buddy

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It was not just one lawsuit, I believe that may be the combined total of all the lawsuits to date. Rest assured though the judge said his fake bankruptcy may cover the 324 million in lawyers fees.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)