New York (AFP) - A Connecticut jury on Tuesday began weighing how much in damages prominent far-right US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay for claiming the massacre of 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax.
Jones, founder of the website InfoWars and host of a popular radio show, has been found liable in multiple defamation lawsuits brought by parents of the victims of the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
The 48-year-old Jones claimed for years on his show that the Sandy Hook shooting was "staged" by gun control activists and the parents were "crisis actors," but has since acknowledged it was "100 percent real."
A Texas jury ordered Jones last month to pay nearly $50 million in damages to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose six-year-old son Jesse was killed by a 20-year-old gunman at Sandy Hook.
A jury in Waterbury, Connecticut, less than 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Newtown, is now deciding on the amount of damages to be awarded in a separate case brought by relatives of other victims.
"Hold Alex Jones accountable for what he did in the minutes, the hours, days, months and the years after the worst thing that ever happened to this community," Chris Mattei, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in opening arguments to the six-person jury.
"When you speak at the end of this case with your verdict, you'll be speaking on behalf of the community," Mattei told the jury.
"Unless you stop a bully, the bully will never stop himself," he said. "And when it comes to stopping Alex Jones that will be the most important work that you do here."
Jones, who was not present for opening arguments on Tuesday, has been a vocal supporter of former president Donald Trump.
Trump appeared frequently on Jones' radio show during his 2016 White House campaign and the InfoWars founder was in Washington when supporters of the then-president stormed Congress in a bid to prevent certification of Democrat Joe Biden's election victory.
Jones is also under scrutiny for his participation in the January 6, 2021 assault.
InfoWars declared bankruptcy in April and another company owned by Jones, Free Speech Systems, also recently filed for bankruptcy.
