HARTFORD, Conn. _ A superior court judge has sanctioned conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after his on-air tirade against a lawyer for Sandy Hook families who are suing him because he said the Newtown mass shooting was staged.
"This was an intentional and calculated act of rage toward his viewing audience," said Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis during an emergency hearing in Bridgeport Tuesday. "Whether it was an act or whether it was real rage doesn't really matter ... it's unacceptable and sanctionable."
Bellis barred lawyers from pursuing any special motions to dismiss the lawsuit by the Sandy Hook families. She also ordered Jones to pay lawyers' fees in connection with the discovery of child pornography attached to emails sent to Jones and his Infowars website that were turned over to the Sandy Hook lawyers as part of the case.
Bellis set a trial date for November of 2020 for the case.
A lawyer for Jones said his client "was enraged" over the emails during his internet radio program last Friday.
"Jones was enraged when he found these images were sent to him via email," said Zach Reiland, a lawyer for Jones who appeared at an emergency court hearing in Bridgeport Tuesday afternoon.
During the program, Jones used threatening language and mentioned Chris Mattei, a lawyer from Koskoff, Koskoff & Beider who is part of a team representing the Sandy Hook families, who allege that Jones has profited from spreading the story that the shooting was a hoax.
"What nice people. Chris Mattei. Chris Mattei," Jones said on the air, pounding a picture of Mattei with his fist. "Let's zoom in on Chris Mattei. Oh, nice little Chris Mattei. What a good American. What a good boy. You think you'll put on me, what ... I'm gonna kill. ... Anyway, I'm done! Total war! You want it, you got it!"
William Bloss, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families, told Judge Bellis that "there is no way to interpret what Mr. Jones said on Friday as anything but a threat."
Bloss said his firm had received death threats since Jones' outburst last Friday.
The FBI has been investigating child porn sent to Jones after lawyers for the Sandy Hook families found images turned over to them in connection with their lawsuit against Jones. The pornography was discovered after Jones turned over thousands of emails to the Sandy Hook lawyers as part of the discovery process in the case.
The lawsuit accuses Jones of orchestrating a sustained attack that lasted for years, accusing family members of being actors, stating as fact that the shooting was a hoax and inciting others to act on those claims all because it was good for his ratings, drew advertisers and made him money.
The lawyers have been fighting about access to Jones data regarding marketing for the show.
Adam Lanza killed 26 people, including 20 first graders, after he shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown school on Dec. 14, 2012.
