CONNECTICUT – A Connecticut judge found Infowars host Alex Jones in contempt Wednesday after he failed to appear for a deposition in a lawsuit filed by victims’ families in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Jones’ lawyer said.
The judge, Barbara Bellis, said Jones will face a per-weekday fine starting at $25,000 until he sits for two days of depositions, the lawyer, Norm Pattis, said in a filing. The penalty, which “increases by $25,000 per-weekday,” is set to begin Friday.
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Bellis said Jones hadn’t produced enough evidence to support his claim that he missed a deposition last week because of health problems.
In November, Bellis found Jones liable for damages over his claims that the Dec. 14, 2012, school shooting — which left 20 first graders and six educators dead — was a hoax.
The deposition is for a coming trial that will determine how much Jones should pay the families of eight victims and an FBI agent involved in the case. The group has said they’ve faced death threats and harassment over Jones’ claims.
Jones has since said he believes the shooting occurred.
In the filing, Pattis cited a scheduling conflict and asked Bellis to delay the fines until April 11. It wasn’t immediately clear how she would rule.
The victims’ families on Tuesday rejected an offer from Jones to pay each of them $120,000. Lawyers for the plaintiffs called the proposal a “transparent and desperate attempt by Alex Jones to escape a public reckoning under oath with his deceitful, profit-driven campaign against the plaintiffs and the memory of their loved ones lost at Sandy Hook.”
In the filing, Jones’ lawyers said he “extends his heartfelt apology for any distress his remarks caused.”
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