Federal Bankruptcy Judge Grants Alex Jones’ Request for Liquidation of Personal Assets to Pay Sandy Hook Verdicts

Federal Bankruptcy Judge Grants Alex Jones’ Request to Liquidate Personal Assets to Pay Sandy Hook Defamation Verdicts

A federal bankruptcy judge has granted conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ request to convert his bankruptcy filing into a liquidation of his personal assets in order to pay the massive defamation verdicts owed to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims. However, the judge dismissed a bankruptcy case for Jones’ media company, Free Speech Systems, leaving the future of his show on Infowars in question but effectively allowing him to continue broadcasting.

Jones founded Infowars, which operates under Free Speech Systems, in 1999. The families of Sandy Hook victims who sued Jones won lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas and were collectively awarded $1.5 billion in damages after they claimed he defamed them and inflicted emotional distress by repeatedly suggesting on his show that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.

During the court proceedings, the families who filed their suit in Connecticut and those who filed in Texas clashed over whether Free Speech Systems’ separate Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing should be converted into a Chapter 7 liquidation. The Connecticut families favored liquidation while the Texas families wanted the bankruptcy case dismissed.

The judge’s ruling gives the Sandy Hook families in Connecticut authority to “move immediately to collect against all Infowars assets.” Jones’ lawyer stated that there is money that can go to the trustee in the form of the sale of Jones’ $2.8 million Texas ranch.

The families accused Jones of trying to divert assets from his media company to support his future business operations. Jones’ lawyer denied the accusations in court. Jones had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2022, a move that lawyers for the plaintiffs criticized as a maneuver to avoid paying the debt.

Jones suggested on his show this week that Infowars will end as his audience knows it in a matter of days. “I’m going to stay with the ship until it fully sinks,” he said, adding, “At the last moment, I will then step onto the next ship.”

The judge’s decision to approve the liquidation of both Jones’ personal assets and Free Speech Systems is seen as a step towards holding Jones accountable for his actions and fulfilling his financial obligations to the Sandy Hook families.