A Connecticut judge slapped InfoWars founder Alex Jones with sanctions Tuesday after he said he was being framed with child porn by a lawyer representing the Sandy Hook families, who are suing the right-wing conspiracy theorist for his past claims suggesting the tragic 2012 shooting had been staged.
Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis’ ruling came on the heels of a motion filed by the law firm, Koskoff, Koskoff and Bieber requesting officials review a broadcast that shows Jones personally targeting a lawyer for relatives of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. The sanctions require Jones pay the Sandy Hook families’ legal and attorney fees related to the child porn investigation and bar him from filing motions to dismiss the defamation suits filed against him.
Attorneys in the motion filed on Monday said a consultant reviewing documents turned over by Jones in the case uncovered “an image that appeared to be child pornography.” The discovery prompted them to reach out to counsel, who then took the images to the FBI.
They did note, however, the images “had apparently been sent to the InfoWars email addresses” and had not been solicited by Jones or his team, according to documents obtained by CNN. His attorney, Norman Pattis, said on InfoWars that the FBI was treating his client as a victim in the probe.
Jones claimed Friday on his eponymous web show that attorney Chris Mattei was attempting to set him up by planting child porn on the electronic files he turned over as part of the discovery process in the case.
“You’re trying to set me up with child porn. I’ll get your ass,” he said amid a tirade typical for his show. “One million dollars, you little gang members. One million dollars to put your head on a pike. One million dollars b----. I’m going to get your ass, you understand me?”
Jones also held up a photo of Mattei before saying: “Total war! You want it, you got it. I’m not into kids like your Democratic Party, you c--- suckers! So get ready.”
Bellis blasted the segment on “The Alex Jones Show" as “indefensible,” “unconscionable” and “possibly criminal behavior.”
No charges have been announced in the child porn case.
The families of eight victims of the Sandy Hook massacre have filed a defamation suit against Jones for claiming the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Conn. was a “hoax.” A total of 26 teachers and young students were killed in the violent incident.
Jones in a sworn deposition earlier this year said a “form of psychosis” made him question the nature of certain high-profile events and tragedies and acknowledged the Sandy Hook shooting as a reality.
Jones also walked back his expletive-laden tirade against the families’ lawyers in a follow-up broadcast on Saturday, though it was not enough to avoid the judge’s sanctions. Pattis, in a statement to WFSB, denied his client ever threatened any of the attorneys and promised to appeal the sanctions this week.
“To suggest otherwise is to engage in precious pleading,” he said. "He knows he’s not popular here in Connecticut, but he’s entitled to speak.”
Jones’ defamation case is set to go to trial in November 2020.