The US Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, upholding a $1.4bn defamation judgment against him. The ruling stems from false claims Jones made about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which killed 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut.
Jones, founder of Infowars, had claimed the massacre was a hoax staged by crisis actors to promote gun control. The victims' families reported harassment from Jones's followers, impeding their ability to grieve. The Supreme Court provided no reason for its decision, as per its orders list released on Tuesday.
In his September appeal, Jones argued he was wrongly found liable without a trial and that the judgment amounted to a 'financial death penalty' for his media enterprise. Jones and Infowars' parent company, Free Speech Systems, filed for bankruptcy in 2022 after the lawsuits from Connecticut and Texas.
A New York Times investigation revealed Jones had transferred millions in assets beyond creditors' reach. In June, the trustee overseeing his personal bankruptcy accused him of hiding over $5m. Attorney Chris Mattei, representing the families, stated: 'The supreme court properly rejected Jones's latest desperate attempt to avoid accountability.'
