Hartford, Conn. (AP) — InfoWars host Alex Jones has offered to pay $120,000 per plaintiff to settle a lawsuit by relatives of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, who said they claimed never to have committed the massacre. by defaming him, according to a court filing on Tuesday.
This offer was immediately rejected by the families.
A Connecticut judge found Jones liable for damages in November, and a trial is planned to determine how much he should pay to families.
The plaintiffs said they received harassment and death threats from Jones' followers because their show promoted a conspiracy to deceive.
The court filing posted online said: "Mr. Jones offered his heartfelt apologies for any distress caused by his remarks. ,
Last week Jones defied a court order to attend a deposition near his home in Austin, Texas, to testify before the trial. Jones said he was ill. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday on the plaintiff's request to grant sanctions to Jones for non-cooperation.
Lawyers for the families rejected the settlement offer within hours, saying in court filings that it was "an attempt to avoid a public reckoning made under oath by Alex Jones with his fraudulent, profit-driven campaign against Plaintiffs and Memory." It was a transparent and desperate effort. Lost loved ones at Sandy Hook."
Twenty-one graders and six teachers were killed in a 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The families of eight of the victims and an FBI agent responding to the school sued Jones, InfoWars and others in Connecticut over conspiracy to commit fraud. Jones has since said that he believes the shooting took place.
Jones was also found liable for damages in similar lawsuits filed in Texas by relatives of Sandy Hook victims, and also faces trial later this year.