News

Alex Jones Ordered to Pay an Additional $472 Million

Published

1 year ago

2022-11-11

Alex Jones Ordered to Pay Another $472 Million Over Sandy Hook

Alex Jones was ordered to pay $472 million in punitive damages and attorneys’ fees in addition to the $965 million awarded by a Connecticut jury for spreading lies about the Sandy Hook school massacre.

On Thursday, Connecticut state court judge Barbara Bellis ruled that the Infowars host’s actions warranted him paying punitive and compensatory damages to the families of the victims of the 2012 school shooting, which killed 20 first graders and six educators.

She awarded $150 million in punitive damages and $321.7 million in legal fees, which Jones must pay to the victims’ lawyers under a one-third contingency-fee arrangement.

Jones’s lawyer, Norm Pattis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bellis’ rulings.

Alex Jones has promoted the conspiracy theory that the government staged the shooting with “crisis actors” to influence gun-control policy. Jones was found to have defamed the families and violated a state law prohibiting the sale of products with false statements after being sued by five Sandy Hook families and a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who responded to the shooting.

He frequently pushed vitamin supplements and survival gear on shows where he lied about the shooting.

Alex Jones was found guilty.

On October 12, a jury awarded $965 million in compensatory damages for the victims’ reputational harm and emotional distress. Despite the already-hefty verdict, plaintiffs’ lawyers urged Bellis to award the maximum possible punitive damages to deter Jones from spreading his lies.

Bellis stated that she based her punitive damages award on Jones’s degree of malice and his intentional decisions to conceal his financial resources and continue tormenting the families for profit for a decade, even on shows broadcast during the trial.

“This depravity, as well as the defendants’ cruel, persistent course of conduct, establishes the highest degree of reprehensibility and blameworthiness,” the judge wrote in her 45-page decision.

However, the punitive award was not the most severe that Bellis could have imposed. In her ruling, she stated that legal precedent would have allowed her to impose a punitive damages award equal to double the jury verdict – or nearly a billion – but she also stated that both the US and Connecticut supreme courts discouraged disproportionately large punitive damages awards that could be viewed as a “windfall” to plaintiffs.

On Thursday, a family lawyer, Chris Mattei, praised Bellis’ award. “The court recognized Alex Jones and his business entities’ intentional, malicious, and heinous conduct,” Mattei wrote in an email. “We hope this reinforces the case’s message: those who profit from lies that target the innocent will face justice.”

Alex Jones mocked the jury verdict almost immediately after it was announced, disparaging the massacre and vowing to appeal any court order. He has already requested that Bellis overturn the jury’s decision as legally flawed and order a new trial. The judge has not yet decided on that request.

Fees and punitive damages

Pattis had requested that Bellis award only nominal attorneys’ fees and punitive damages, claiming that the jury’s award was sufficient punishment. However, Pattis acknowledged that it is unclear what amount of damages – would be sufficient to change Jones’ behaviour.

The case is still hung up on whether Jones will pay any portion of the verdict. The families have accused Jones of concealing assets and stealing profits through a network of shell companies controlled by family members.

Bellis granted the families’ request earlier Thursday to temporarily prohibit Jones and his companies from transferring or disposing of assets without her permission. Mattei agreed with the decision.

“This is the first step in ensuring that Jones personally pays every penny he has to the families he has tormented for years,” he said.

The families also requested that Jones provide a complete accounting of his assets, which he has consistently refused to do, and that he bring all movable property to Connecticut for safekeeping by the court. The judge has not yet responded to those requests.

Jones declared Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems LLC, bankrupt this summer and has repeatedly stated that he will never pay the families a dime. He’s asked his millions of followers to donate to him as he continues investigating the shooting and appealing the verdicts against him.

During the Connecticut trial, one of Jones’ executives testified that corporate revenues in the ten years following Sandy Hook ranged between $100 million and $1 billion. A financial expert testified in a previous Sandy Hook defamation trial that Alex Jones’ net worth likely ranges between $135 million and $270 million.

Source: Bloomberg

Keywords: Alex jones sandy hook, the Alex jones show

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World

2023: Poland Arrests Man Suspected Of Spying For Russia To Aid Zelenskyy Assassination Plot

Published

45 mins ago

2024-04-18

Kiara Grace

NDTV - VOR News Image

WARSAW, Poland – A Polish man has been arrested on suspicion of preparing to spy for Russia’s military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Polish prosecutors said Thursday.

According to a statement released by Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office, the individual, known only as Pawel K. under Polish privacy regulations, was accused of preparing to transmit airport security information to Russian agents and was arrested in Poland on Wednesday.

AP News Image

Poland Arrests Man Suspected Of Spying For Russia To Aid Zelenskyy Assassination Plot

The man was looking for contact with Russians directly involved in the war in Ukraine and was expected to provide detailed information about the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in south-east Poland, near the Ukrainian border, which serves as the gateway for international military and humanitarian supplies to Ukraine. It also caters to leaders and politicians traveling in and out of Ukraine. The airport is controlled by US soldiers.

If convicted, the guy faces up to eight years in prison, according to the statement.

AP News – VOR News

Poland Arrests Man Suspected Of Spying For Russia To Aid Zelenskyy Assassination Plot

The prosecutors claimed that close cooperation with Ukrainian prosecutors and security agencies, who tipped them off and provided crucial evidence, made the arrest possible. They stated the case is progressing.

On Thursday, prosecutors in Germany announced the arrest of two German-Russian individuals on suspicion of espionage, with one accused of agreeing to carry out assaults on potential targets, including US military bases, in the hopes of damaging supplies to Ukraine.

Dieter S. and Alexander J. were arrested Wednesday in Bayreuth, Bavaria, according to German federal authorities.

Since Moscow initiated its campaign on Ukraine in February 2022, several persons have been arrested in Poland on suspicion of spying for Russia, including a dual Russian-Spanish citizen.

CNN – Vor News Image

Poland Arrests Man Suspected Of Spying For Russia To Aid Zelenskyy Assassination Plot

Poland, a European Union member, has been a loyal backer of neighboring Ukraine and Zelenskyy in their fight against Russia’s aggression for more than two years.

SOURCE – (AP)

News

Long-Lost First Model Of The USS Enterprise From ‘Star Trek’ Boldly Goes Home After Twisting Voyage

Published

53 mins ago

2024-04-18

Kiara Grace

AP - VOR News Image

DALLAS – The first model of the USS Enterprise, which appeared in the opening credits of the original “Star Trek” television series, has returned home, decades after it went stolen.

The model’s disappearance in the 1970s had become a source of legend, so when it appeared on eBay last fall, it generated quite the commotion. The sellers promptly removed it and called Dallas-based Heritage Auctions to authenticate it. The auction house helped arrange the model’s return last weekend.

Long-Lost First Model Of The USS Enterprise From ‘Star Trek’ Boldly Goes Home After Twisting Voyage

Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment, said he is overjoyed to have the model that formerly graced his father’s desk, who died in 1991 at age 70.

“This is not going home to adorn my shelves,” Roddenberry remarked. “This is going to get restored and we’re working on ways to get it out so the public can see it and my hope is that it will land in a museum somewhere.”

Joe Maddalena, Heritage’s executive vice president, stated that the auction house was approached by persons who claimed to have discovered it in a storage unit, and when it was brought into their Beverly Hills office, he and a colleague “instantly knew that it was the real thing.”

They contacted Roddenberry, who expressed his gratitude that everyone involved felt that returning the model was the correct thing to do. He would not go into detail about the arrangement reached, but he did say, “I felt it was important to reward and show appreciation for that.”

Maddalena claimed the model vanished in the 1970s when Gene Roddenberry loaned it to the producers of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” which was released in 1979.

Long-Lost First Model Of The USS Enterprise From ‘Star Trek’ Boldly Goes Home After Twisting Voyage

“No one knew what happened to it,” Rod Roddenberry admitted.

The 3-foot (0.91-meter) model of the USS Enterprise was used in both the show’s initial pilot episode and the opening credits of the subsequent TV series, and it served as a prototype for the 11-foot (3-meter) version seen in the series’ episodes. The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian has the larger replica on display.

The original “Star Trek” television series, which debuted in the late 1960s, sparked an ever-expanding universe of cultural phenomena, including TV and movie spinoffs and conventions where a rabid and committed Trekkie fandom can’t get enough memorabilia.

This USS Enterprise replica might easily fetch more than $1 million at auction, but “it’s priceless,” Maddalena stated.

“It could sell for any amount and I wouldn’t be surprised because of what it is,” he told me. “It is truly a cultural icon.”

Roddenberry, who was a little boy when the model went away, described his memories as “almost a deja vu.” He stated he hadn’t given it any attention until people started contacting him after it surfaced on eBay.

“I don’t think I really, fully comprehended at first that this was the first Enterprise ever created,” he told me.

He added he doesn’t know if there was something sinister behind the disappearance decades ago or if it was simply misplaced, but it would be intriguing to learn more about what happened Star Trek.

Long-Lost First Model Of The USS Enterprise From ‘Star Trek’ Boldly Goes Home After Twisting Voyage

“This piece is incredibly important and it has its own story and this would be a great piece of the story,” added Roddenberry.

Fortunately, he claimed, the finding has put an end to one rumor: that it was destroyed because he threw it into a pool as a child.

“Finally, I’m vindicated after all these years,” he stated with a giggle.

SOURCE – (AP)

News

Today’s Wordle #1033 Hints and Answer

Published

1 day ago

2024-04-17

Geoff Thomas

Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for April 17

Wordle Today: Getty Images

Today’s Wordle answer should be fairly simple. It has some somewhat common letters. But if this is confusing you, keep reading. Every day, we’ll publish hints and the answer to the current day’s Wordle in case you need them.

If you are here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we provide daily hints and ideas to help you figure out today’s solution.

If you want to know today’s word, scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the Wordle answer for April 17. If you prefer to solve it yourself, keep reading for some hints, tips, and techniques to help you.

Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:

A small monetary gift was given to the church.

Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter T appears twice.

Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…

Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.

What’s the answer to Wordle today?

Get your last guesses in now because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to Wordle #1033 is…

TITHE.

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.