Sandy Hook Families Reject Alex Jones' 'Desperate' Offer to Settle Defamation Case

The 13 plaintiffs suing Alex Jones for defamation rejected an "Offer of Compromise" over his Sandy Hook comments, which would've granted them each $120,000

Alex Jones. Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

An offer from Alex Jones to settle a defamation case brought against him by parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has been rejected by the plaintiffs.

In online court documents accessed by PEOPLE on Wednesday, Jones — the Infowars host who called the massacre a "giant hoax" — said he would give each of the 13 plaintiffs $120,000 as an "Offer of Compromise."

"Mr. Jones extends his heartfelt apology for any distress his remarks caused," reads Jones' letter, filed on Tuesday.

Each of the 13 plaintiffs issued their own letters in response on Wednesday, saying that they reject Jones' offer to settle "in full."

"The so-called offer is a transparent and desperate attempt by Alex Jones to escape a public reckoning under oath with his deceitful, profit-driven campaign against the plaintiffs and the memory of their loved ones lost at Sandy Hook," the rejection letters stated.

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Victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

Twenty first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., were killed on Dec. 14, 2012, in one of the five worst shootings by a single gunman in U.S. history.

After the shooting, Jones took to his popular web talk show on Infowars.com, which has trafficked in various conspiracy theories, to spread baseless and inflammatory statements about the massacre.

Calling the mass shooting "a giant hoax," he told the millions who watch his show and visit his site that it was a "false flag" operation staged by crisis actors posing as grieving parents to strengthen gun control laws.

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was killed in the shooting, and Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, who lost their 6-year-old son Noah Pozner, first filed lawsuits against Jones in April 2018 in Texas.

In October 2021, Jones was found liable for damages in those lawsuits, after he failed to comply with the judge's order to hand over documents for discovery. As of October, a jury was set to decide how much he should pay in damages. Jones and his attorneys had maintained that his comments are protected by the First Amendment.

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A second lawsuit, filed by the parents of eight victims, contended that Jones profited from spreading false claims about the 2012 school shooting.

In November 2021, a Connecticut judge found Jones liable for damages in the latter lawsuit. The ruling by Judge Barbara Bellis, obtained by PEOPLE, said that Jones and his companies, Infowars and Free Speech Systems, failed to hand over documents and records for discovery.

The decision meant that a jury would determine what damages Jones owes the plaintiffs. A hearing to determine damages is set to happen in 2022.

In a statement, Jones said that he did provide the documents the court had requested, alleging in part, "They know they don't have a case for damages. And so the judge is saying you are guilty of damages, now a jury decides how guilty you are. It's not guilty until proven guilty."

Norm Pattis, one of Jones' attorneys, told the Associated Press an appeal of the judge's decision is in the works.