Houston | Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay $US965 million ($1.5 billion) in damages to families and an FBI agent ravaged by the Infowars founder’s lie that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was a hoax, a US jury found on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT).

The verdict, which followed a four-week trial pitting the combative internet host against the victims’ families, brings the total damages to more than $US1 billion. That includes an award of almost $US50 million in Texas for the family of a first-grader killed in the 2012 mass shooting.

Bloomberg