A judge ruled that Alex Jones must pay damages to Sandy Hook families over his claims that the school shooting was a 'giant hoax'

• Alex Jones must pay financial damages to Sandy Hook families over false claims that the shooting was staged.
• A Texas district judge issued default judgments in the case after Jones failed to comply with court requests for information.
• Jones' refusal displayed "flagrant bad faith and callous disregard," the judge wrote in her ruling.

Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will be responsible for paying damages to Sandy Hook families over his false claims that the school shooting was a "giant hoax," a Texas judge ruled earlier this week.

Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble issued default judgments on Monday against Jones and Infowars - the website, syndicated radio network, and YouTube channel he founded - after he failed to comply with court-ordered requests for information related to two 2018 lawsuits by families of two children who were killed in the 2012 shooting.

In the Monday ruling, which was unsealed Thursday, Gamble skewered Jones over his repeated failure to turn over documents in response to court orders, saying his continued refusal displayed "flagrant bad faith and callous disregard for the responsibilities of discovery under the rules."

"An escalating series of judicial admonishments, monetary penalties, and non-dispositive sanctions have all been ineffective at deterring the abuse," Gamble wrote, according to HuffPost, which first reported the default judgments.

The Infowars founder has had to pay tens of thousands of dollars in financial damages to Sandy Hook families over the years in connection to his false claims about the Sandy Hook shooting.

Nine families have sued Jones so far over his remarks that the shooting was a "completely fake" staged event carried out by "crisis actors" on behalf of those who oppose the Second Amendment.

The shooting killed 26 people - 20 of whom were children who attended the school.

Mark Bankston, an attorney representing the parents in two of the lawsuits, told CNN that the default judgments will bring his clients "the closure they deserve."

"Mr. Jones was given ample opportunity to take these lawsuits seriously and obey the rule of law," Bankston said. "He chose not to do so, and now he will face the consequences for that decision."

In a Thursday statement, Norm Pattis, an attorney representing Jones and Infowars, called the default judgments "stunning" and that it "takes no account of the tens of thousands of documents produced by the defendants, the hours spent sitting for depositions and the various sworn statements filed in these cases."

"We are distressed by what we regard as a blatant abuse of discretion by the trial court," Jones and Pattis said in the statement. "We are determined to see that these cases are heard on the merits."