The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by Infowars host Trump ally and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who fought a sanction in Connecticut in a defamation case by relatives of some Sandy Hook shooting victims.
Jones was penalized in 2019 by a trial court judge for a violent outburst against a lawyer for the family members and for violating numerous orders to hand over documents to lawyers. Judge Barbara Bellis banned Jones from filing a motion to dismiss the case and said she would order Jones to pay some of the families’ legal costs.
Jones argued that he should not be sanctioned for exercising his right to speak. The Connecticut Supreme Court upheld Bellis’ ruling last year.
The families and an FBI agent who responded to the 2012 shooting, in which 20 first-degree students and six educators were killed, Jones claims, and his webpage claims the massacre was a hoax. The families said they were subjected to harassment and death threats from Jones’ followers.
Jones, whose show is based in Austin, Texas, has since said he believes the shooting took place. The Supreme Court dismissed his appeal without comment.
Jones’ attorney, Norman Pattis, described the court’s decision as a disappointment.
“Judge Bellis, and the Connecticut Supreme Court, have argued appalling and non-standard power over the extrajudicial statements of litigants,” Pattis said. ‘Mr. Jones never threatened anyone; had he done so, he would have been charged with a crime. We are in the process of making a toothless, politically correct first amendment from case to case. “
Commentary messages were sent to attorneys for the families of eight victims of the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and the FBI agent.
Jones, on Infowars in 2019, accused a family lawyer, Christopher Mattei, of planting images of child sexual abuse found in metadata files that Jones told the Sandy Hook families’ attorneys transferred. Pattis said the files were in emails sent to Jones, which were never opened.
“You’re trying to set me up with child porn,” Jones said. ‘One million dollars, little gang members. One million dollars to put your head on a pike. ”
Jones showed a photo of Mattei, a former prosecutor, and said, ‘I’m done. Total war. Do you want it? You got it. “
In comments with obscene language, Jones added: ‘One million dollars when convicted. The abundance is from…. your little dirty bag. One million … This is out. ”
The Connecticut Supreme Court said the sanctions against Jones did not offend the first amendment because it was instituted because of the speech which was a ‘threatening and likely threat to the judiciary’. Chief Justice Richard Robinson wrote: “Language that poses a threat to physical harm is not acceptable.”
Sandy Hook families have sued Jones and others for defamation in other states. A judge in Texas ordered in 2019 that Jones pay $ 100,000 in legal fees and refused to dismiss the case. A Wisconsin jury has awarded $ 450,000 to one parent in his lawsuit against conspiracy theorists, not Jones, who claims the massacre never took place.