Alex Jones to pay $4.1m over false Sandy Hook claims | First Thing

Infowars owner faced defamation trial for saying the school shooting was a hoax. Plus, how the Astroworld tragedy changed gigs for ever

Good morning.

The jury in Alex Jones's defamation trial on Thursday ordered the far-right conspiracy theorist to pay $4.1m in damages over his repeated claims that the deadly Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.

Is this the end of the case? No. In a separate phase on Friday, jurors are to determine whether Jones owes any punitive damages in addition to the compensation he was ordered to pay.

What other problems is Jones facing? The congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol has requested that Bankston provide the panel with the texts from Jones, a prominent supporter of former president Donald Trump. A similar trial with other parents from Sandy Hook also looms for Jones in Connecticut.

How worried should we be about military conflict? Experts agree that neither the US nor China has the appetite for the tension to escalate to war. According to Justin Bassi, of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, China's military exercises will probably be calibrated to avoid escalation from the US.