Alex Jones found liable in Sandy Hook defamation lawsuits and will have to pay damages, judge rules

Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was found liable Monday for damages in lawsuits brought by parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting over Jones' claims that the massacre was a hoax. Judge Barbara Bellis took the rare step of defaulting Jones in the defamation lawsuits for his and his companies' "failure to produce critical material information that the plaintiffs needed to prove their claims."

The default means the judge found in favor of the parents and will hold a hearing on how much damages he should pay.

Lawyers for the parents claimed Jones and his companies, including Infowars and Free Speech Systems, violated court rules by failing to turn over documents to them, including internal company documents showing how, and if, Jones and Infowars profited from talking about the school shooting and other mass shootings.