Alex Jones lost another appeal in a defamation case brought against him by parents of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting.
The Texas Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Sandy Hook parents on Wednesday and ordered Jones, founder of the website InfoWars, to pay $20,000 in attorney’s fees, according to the Huffington Post. Jones now owes nearly $150,000 in legal fees.
Neil Heslin, whose son was killed in the 2012 shooting, sued Jones for defamation after Jones alleged that the parents of the Sandy Hook massacre were “crisis actors” who staged the shooting. Attorney Mark Bankston is representing Heslin in the case.
“It is rare to see a legal defense so incompetent and disrespectful to the rule of law that it causes a defendant to rack up $150,000 in fines during preliminary motions before even reaching trial,” Bankston said. “These fines are only the beginning. A far greater reckoning awaits Mr. Jones.”
Nine parents of children killed at Sandy Hook have sued Jones for defamation.
In the aftermath of the massacre that left 20 children and six adults dead, Jones said the shooting was “completely fake” and part of a plot to get the government to pass stricter gun laws. After Jones alleged the parents were “crisis actors,” many of them reported receiving abuse online from people saying that the 2012 mass shooting was staged.
