Yahoo News Judge Orders Alex Jones’ Personal Assets Liquidated to Pay Sandy Hook Families but Dismisses Infowars Bankruptcy Case
UPDATED, 3:30 p.m. PT: Alex Jones’ personal assets must be liquidated to pay the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims over the conspiracy theorist’s false claims that the massacre was a hoax, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Jones, founder and host of right-wing fringe site Infowars, had already filed for personal bankruptcy protection after juries in two separate states ordered him to pay nearly $1.5 billion in damages to the Sandy Hook families. Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved converting Jones’ proposed bankruptcy to a liquidation. However, the judge dismissed the bankruptcy case of Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, instead of forcing it to also liquidate its assets.
More from Variety
Chris Mattei, attorney for several families of Sandy Hook victims and partner at Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, said in a statement: “Today is a good day. Alex Jones has lost ownership of Infowars, the corrupt business he has used for years to attack the Connecticut families and so many others. The court authorized us to move immediately to collect against all Infowars assets, and we intend to do exactly that. Alex Jones is neither a martyr nor a victim. He is the perpetrator of the worst defamation in American history.”
Jones has approval to sell his Texas ranch, worth about $2.8 million, along with his gun collection and other assets, the AP reported. However, Jones’ home in the Austin area and some other of his possessions are exempt from the liquidation order.
Jones is estimated to have less than $5 million in personal assets, per court filings. Free Speech Systems has about $6 million in cash on hand and about $1.2 million worth of inventory, the AP reported, citing J. Patrick Magill, the chief restructuring officer appointed by the court to run Free Speech Systems during the bankruptcy proceedings.
Both Jones and Free Speech Systems filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 after he lost civil suits in Connecticut and Texas. Jones is appealing the judgments in the cases.
Families of Sandy Hook victims sued Jones after he called the mass murder a “giant hoax” as “phony as a $3 bill” perpetrated by “crisis actors,” and incredibly claimed that “no one died.” He falsely accused the parents of the children killed at the elementary school of colluding with the U.S. government in a supposed plot to restrict gun rights. In December 2012, 20 students and six adults died in the shooting at the school in Newtown, Conn.
Meanwhile, Jones also has accused the U.S. government of being behind the 9/11 attacks; has said that NFL players protesting during the national anthem were “kneeling to white genocide”; attacked transgender and Muslim people; and suggested that Lady Gaga’s 2017 Super Bowl halftime show was a satanic ritual.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
