(NEW YORK) — Controversial radio and TV personality Alex Jones was found liable Monday for damages in a lawsuit brought by the parents of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.

Judge Barbara Bellis found Jones liable for damages by default because Jones and his companies, like Infowars, showed “callous disregard” for the rules of discovery. She previously faulted the Infowars host for failing to comply with requests for documents and other procedures.

The ruling sends the case to a jury to award the families damages without a civil trial. It is legal a victory for eight parents of Newtown victims who sued Jones for defamation after he called the elementary school shooting massacre a hoax.

The plaintiffs earlier alleged a “yearslong campaign of abusive and outrageous false statements in which Jones and the other defendants have developed, amplified and perpetuated claims that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged and that the 26 families who lost loved ones that day are paid actors who faked their relative’s deaths.”

The judge agreed with the families that Jones, Infowars and his other companies failed to turn over documents to the families that they would need to prove their case, as required by law.

“The defendants were ordered to produce the documents,” Bellis said during Monday’s hearing, which was conducted remotely. “Discovery is not supposed to be a guessing game. What the Jones defendants have produced by way of analytics is not even remotely full and fair compliance.”

Jones was similarly defaulted in Texas for failing to turn over documents.

The U.S. Supreme Court had declined to take up a petition from Jones earlier in April, who had challenged legal sanctions imposed on him by a court in Connecticut.

“This callous disregard of their obligations to fully and fairly comply with discovery and court orders on its own merits a default against the Jones defendants,” Bellis said.

“While the families are grateful for the Court’s ruling, they remain focused on uncovering the truth. As the Court noted, Alex Jones and his companies have deliberately concealed evidence of the relationship between what they publish and how they make money,” Chris Mattei of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, which represents the eight families suing Jones, said.

“Mr. Jones was given every opportunity to comply but, when he chose instead to withhold evidence for more than two years, the Court was left with no choice but to rule as it did today. While today’s ruling is a legal victory, the battle to shed light on how deeply Mr. Jones has harmed these families continues,” Mattei said.

The judge in Connecticut will hold a hearing in August to determine how much Jones will have to pay in damages.

Twenty children and six staff members died in the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at the Newtown, Connecticut, school at the hands of gunman Adam Lanza.

 

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(NEW YORK) — A Wisconsin jury could begin deliberating the fate of Kyle Rittenhouse on Monday after hearing what is expected to be starkly different theories of the same evidence in the homicide case with prosecutors set to portray the teen as a trouble-seeking active shooter to counter defense claims he shot three men, two fatally, in self-defense.

The closing arguments are currently unfolding in Kenosha County Circuit Court.

Rittenhouse was 17 and armed with a semiautomatic rifle at the time he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and severely wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, during an Aug. 25, 2020, protest in Kenosha.

During the trial, which began on Nov. 2, Rittenhouse testified that he shot all three men in self-defense as they and others allegedly attacked him during the demonstration over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was left paralyzed.

The court hearing began Monday with a presentation from Judge Bruce Schroeder of instructions to the jury that included allowing the panel to consider lesser charges against the 18-year-old.

Schroeder also spent time instructing the jury on the legal elements of self-defense.

“The law of self-defense allows the defendant to threaten or intentionally use force against another only if he believed that there was an actual or imminent unlawful interference with his own person, and he believed that the amount of force which he used or threatened to use was necessary to prevent or terminate the interference and his beliefs were reasonable,” the judge said.

On Friday, Schroeder told Rittenhouse he runs the risk of being convicted on the lesser charges if the jury finds him not guilty of the original counts of first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety.

The judge also granted a defense motion Monday to dismiss a charge of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18 after the prosecution agreed that the rifle Rittenhouse used in the shooting did not meet the required standard of a short-barreled rifle under the law.

Immediately following the jury instructions, prosecutor Thomas Binger began giving his summation by telling the jury, “This is a case in which a 17-year-old teenager killed two unarmed men and severely wounded a third person with an AR-15 that did not belong to him.”

“This isn’t a situation where he was protecting his home or his family,” Binger said. “He killed people after traveling here from Antioch, Illinois, and staying out after a citywide curfew.”

Binger launched into detail about the first killing on the night of Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, showing the jury video the prosecutor claims shows that Rittenhouse provoked the deadly encounter with Rosenbaum.

Binger said Rittenhouse sat down a fire extinguisher he had in his left hand and pointed his gun at Rosenbaum and others. In a dramatic reenactment, Binger sat down a water bottle as if it were the fire extinguisher with his left hand and raised the semiautomatic rifle used in the shootings at the courtroom gallery.

“That is what provokes this entire incident. And one of the things to keep in mind is that when the defendant provokes the incident, he loses the right to self-defense,” Binger said. “You cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create. That’s critical right here. If you’re the one who is threatening others, you lose the right to claim self-defense.”

The prosecutor asked the jury to watch the video of the Rosenbaum shooting closely, pointing out that Rosenbaum held up his hands as he ran after Rittenhouse and cited the teenager’s testimony during the trial that he knew the man was unarmed.

“Mr. Rosenbaum is not even within arm’s reach when the first shot occurs,” Binger said, playing the video of the shooting several times.

Binger described the confrontation between Rosenbaum and Rittenhouse as being akin to a “bar fight,” even showing the jurors an image of Patrick Swayze in the movie “Roadhouse,” in which the actor played a bar bouncer who protects a small town from a corrupt businessman.

“This is a fight that maybe many of you have been involved in,” Binger said, referring to the confrontation between Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum. “Two people, hand to hand. We’re throwing punches, we’re pushing, we’re shoving, we’re whatever. But what you don’t do is you don’t bring a gun to a fistfight.”

Binger said that after shooting Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse ran away without attempting to provide first aid. The prosecutor said others in the crowd had every reason to chase after Rittenhouse to stop him.

“At that point, the crowd is dealing with what they perceive to be an active shooter, someone who has just shot someone who is still in possession of the gun, who is fleeing the scene, and how are we supposed to know where he’s going next?” Binger said.

He said those chasing Rittenhouse took the “least intrusive means possible” to stop the gunman.

Binger showed video of Rittenhouse running down a street and Huber hitting him twice with a skateboard, the second time after which, Rittenhouse lost his balance on his own and fell to the ground.

The prosecutor said Rittenhouse fired twice at an unarmed unidentified man who reportedly kicked him in the face, without regard for others standing nearby, before he shot Huber point-blank in the chest, killing him.

Binger said Grosskreutz, who was armed with a pistol, was shot in the right bicep when he tried to disarm Rittenhouse. “Gaige Grosskreutz had his own gun in his own hand. He could have aimed and fired at the defendant, but he did not,” Binger said.

He said that despite lying to people throughout the night that he was a trained EMT, Rittenhouse never attempted to help the people he shot.

“This is someone who has no remorse, no regard for life, only cares about himself,” the prosecutor said of Rittenhouse.

Binger wrapped up his argument by telling the jury to put themselves in Rittenhouse’s shoes and asking if a “reasonable person” would react in the same way.

“I submit to you that no reasonable person would have done what the defendant did. And that makes your decision easy,” Binger said. “He’s guilty of all counts.”

What happens next

Following the closing arguments, court officials will draw names to determine which of the 18 jurors who heard the evidence will be among the 12 that will deliberate on a verdict.

During the trial, Rittenhouse testified in his own defense, telling the jury, “I didn’t intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me.” During his stint on the witness stand, Rittenhouse erupted in sobs as he explained why he shot Rosenbaum.

Rittenhouse, who said he was a former lifeguard and firefighter EMT cadet, said he went to Kenosha that night to provide first aid to people in need and help protect businesses after looting and vandalism broke out in the city, saying he brought his medical supplies along with his AR-15-style rifle and 30-round ammunition clip.

During the trial, prosecutors leaned heavily on video, showing multiple angles to all three shootings, including Huber hitting Rittenhouse twice with a skateboard, Rosenbaum threatening to kill Rittenhouse and chasing him before he was shot dead, and Grosskreutz being shot as he approached the teenage armed with a loaded handgun.

In advance of the verdict, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has authorized about 500 National Guard troops to be on standby to support public safety efforts if needed in Kenosha.

 

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(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 763,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Just 68.8% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:
-Fauci says fully vaccinated families should ‘feel good’ about gathering for holidays
-US daily case average jumps 23%
-NYC residents over 18 can get boosters, health commissioner says

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Nov 15, 2:39 pm
Consider rapid testing before Thanksgiving, experts say

Former Baltimore health commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said in an interview Monday hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center that her family is rapid-testing on Thanksgiving because they’re gathering indoors with multiple families and have young, unvaccinated children.

She said it was reasonable for families with immunocompromised members to continue to take precautions, like rapid test and gather outdoors.

“A family in which everybody is generally healthy and fully vaccinated might take very different types of risks than a family with unvaccinated young kids or elderly, immunocompromised family members,” she said.

Dr. Jerome Adams, former Surgeon General under President Donald Trump, said to make sure all relatives are vaccinated and that no one has cold symptoms.

“Even if you’re vaccinated, if you’re coughing, if you’re sneezing, if you’ve got symptoms, you still could be spreading the virus,” he said.

Looking to the future, Dr. Anthony Fauci said, “If we can get most of the people who are eligible to be boosted, boostered, we can go a long way to make in 2022 much more of a normal year than what we’ve seen in 2021.”

ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Nov 15, 1:45 pm
Long-term study of kids with COVID begins

The National Institutes of Health is starting a study to track the impact of COVID-19 infections in children, enrolling its first participant at the NIH’s Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

The idea of “long COVID,” or long-term health impacts, is of concern in children, and is one of the reasons doctors strongly encourage pediatric vaccination. Six million children in the U.S. have had COVID-19, and many “experienced significant acute and long-term effects,” the NIH said.

The study will track up to 1,000 children and young adults between 3 and 21 years old who previously tested positive for COVID-19 and evaluate the impact on their physical and mental health over three years.

The study will also try to determine risk factors for complications. It will evaluate the long-term immune responses to the disease, screen for genetic factors that may affect how children respond to COVID-19 infection and determine whether immunological factors influence long-term outcomes.

ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss

Nov 15, 12:00 pm
Fauci says fully vaccinated families should ‘feel good’ about gathering for holidays

Dr. Anthony Fauci said vaccinated family members “can feel good about enjoying a typical Thanksgiving, Christmas,” in an interview Monday hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

But Fauci warned that cases are still high, so people should wear masks when they’re in groups of people in indoor settings.

“We are not going to be going through this indefinitely,” Fauci said. “How quickly we get to the end depends on us: how well we vaccinate, how well we get boosted and how well we do the kinds of things to protect ourselves.”

ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Nov 15, 11:19 am
US daily case average jumps 23%

The daily case average in the U.S. now stands at 78,500 – a 23% jump over the last 2.5 weeks, according to federal data

Twenty-one states have seen an uptick in daily cases of 10% or more over the last two weeks: Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Last week marked the first national increase in hospitalizations in nearly 10 weeks. There are now more than 47,000 patients with COVID-19 in hospitals — up by about 2,000 patients since last Monday, according to federal data.

 

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(AURORA, Colo.) — Five teenagers were taken to a hospital after multiple people were shot at a park in Aurora, Colorado, police said.

The teens are ages 14 to 17.

The shooting happened north of Aurora Central High School at Nome Park, and the school is on a secure perimeter.

First responders gather in a parking lot near Central High School in Aurora, Colo., Nov. 1…

Additional information was not immediately available.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

 

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