Earlier this month, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was ordered to pay almost $1 billion to the relatives of the Sandy Hook shooting victims. Although the ten-year anniversary of this event is upcoming in December, recent news has caused controversy regarding the topic.

Alex Jones, a far-right radio and web-streaming host, is known to promote false claims concerning past political events. Jones’ recent claims of the Sandy Hook shooting being staged caught the attention of many. Jones spread the myth that the shooting, which has been said to be one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history (Statistica.com), never occurred and that the grieving families who lost their children were “crisis actors” hired as part of a plot to take away people’s guns (The Washington Post).

Jones has expressed his anti-gun control values numerous times, believing that US citizens are entitled to own firearms. Multiple gun control movements have arisen after mass shootings like Sandy Hook and the shooting at Stoneman-Douglas high school in 2017, which Jones and others on the far right say are in some way faked or overdramatized to fuel gun control movements. Regarding Sandy Hook, Jones said that the massacre was an excuse for people to “go after our guns” (The Washington Post).

In 2018, families connected to the event, as well as an FBI agent, sued Jones. This October, the jury decided to oblige Jones to pay $965 million in damages for the emotional toll his actions have caused. Jones’ lawyer, Norm Pattis, has pledged to appeal on behalf of his client, making a speech after the verdict was shared, saying that day was a “very, very, very, dark day for freedom of speech,” according to The Washington Post.