Alex Jones has been ordered to pay nearly $1bn in damages to the families of the Sandy Hook School Shooting victims, after claiming that the incident was a hoax.

Alex Jones has been ordered to pay $965m (£869m) in damages after claiming that the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting was a hoax.The Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, which took place in 2012, led to the deaths of 32 people, including 6 adults and 20 children.Jones, who founded and hosts the talk show Infowars, argued that the event did not take place and questioned the identities of the victims and their families.

He contended that the school shooting had been "staged" by the government in an effort to remove American citizens 2nd amendment rights.The victims' families have claimed that the comments made by Jones have caused them emotional distress.

They too have stated that Jones' comments have led to them being harassed by his followers and have even received death threats.In a previous defamation trial held in August, Jones was ordered to pay the parents of 8 victims, and one FBI agent who had responded to the attack, $49.3m. It was in this August trial that Jones had acknowledged that the attack was "100% real".The nearly $1bn verdict was read on Wednesday 12th October in Waterbury Connecticut, after a three-week trial. Alex Jones has been vocal about his feelings on the verdict, expressing that he feels it was a "show trial" and has apologised "hundreds of times" and is "done saying sorry". Jones still faces a third defamation lawsuit, which is set to take place in Texas later in the year.