Infowars founder and conspiracy theorist had been ordered to pay because of false claims about Sandy Hook massacre
The US supreme court has refused an appeal from Alex Jones and left in place his $1.4bn defamation penalty that was awarded to the families of victims from the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting.
The Infowars founder and conspiracy theorist had sought to overturn the judgment, which he was ordered to pay after he made false claims about the massacre.
Jones had previously claimed the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were killed was a hoax staged by crisis actors to promote stricter gun control. The Sandy Hook victims’ survivors reported that Jones’s lies spurred threats and harassment from his followers, making it impossible for them to heal from the mass murder.
The supreme court did not provide a reason for its decision, according to its orders list released on Tuesday.
