Judge Orders Alex Jones Pay $25,000 Per Day He Fails To Testify In Sandy Hook Victims’ Case

A Connecticut judge ordered far-right radio show host Alex Jones to pay $25,000 to $50,000 in fines per weekday beginning on Friday until he participates in a deposition in a lawsuit brought forward by relatives of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.

Jones, a prominent conspiracy theorist, pushed claims on his show, InfoWars, that the massacre that killed 20 young students and six educators in December 2012 was just a hoax to promote gun control. He later walked back his statements and stated that he actually believes the shooting occurred.

Judge Barbara Bellis found Jones in contempt of court after Jones reported that he was feeling too sick to attend his March 23 and 24 deposition dates. She noted that he was still feeling well enough to record his show. Bellis also said there was not enough evidence to back up his claim of illness.

“The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant, Alex Jones, willfully and in bad faith violated without justification several clear court orders requiring his attendance at his depositions,” Bellis said during a court hearing held by video conference.

She also changed the location of the deposition to Bridgeport, Connecticut, instead of near Jones’ home in Texas.

Jones offered to settle with the plaintiffs for $120,000 each, but they rejected his offer.

InfoWars released a statement on Wednesday, saying that they had hoped to resolve the case and claimed there had been no resolution to this point because of an entirely different reason.

“Mr. Jones has already sat for three depositions in these cases; he’s provided responses to written requests under oath; he has provided tens of thousands of documents,” the statement read.

“We would like to resolve these cases and stop wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees,” it added. “If the plaintiffs’ lawyers don’t want that because they crave playing the role of hero to mainstream media, let’s at least be honest about what is going on here. This case is becoming less about Sandy Hook than it is about the right to speak freely.”