- author, Mike Wendling
- role, BBC News
-
A judge has ordered the liquidation of Infowars host Alex Jones’ personal assets, opening the door to possible payments to the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.
But U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez ruled against the liquidation of Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems, which owns the Infowars brand.
The victims’ families won damages totalling $1.5bn (£1.2bn) in defamation judgments against Jones and his company, claiming they had made false statements about the attacks.
Jones has personal assets of approximately $8.6 million, according to recent court documents.
The ruling, handed down in Houston, Texas on Friday, means that for the time being, Free Speech Systems and Infowars will continue to operate.
Free Speech Systems employs 44 people and generated nearly $3.2 million in revenue in a recent month, most of it from sales of dietary supplements and other products, according to court documents.
Families of victims were divided on whether corporate bankruptcy should be abolished or replaced by a liquidation procedure.
The ruling does not relieve Free Speech Systems of liability, and the defamation plaintiffs may still seek damages in state court or through further bankruptcy proceedings.
“There are no easy answers or right answers here,” Judge Lopez said as he handed down his ruling, his voice at times dripping with emotion. “I think creditors are better off asserting their state court rights.”
One of the lawyers for the families said they would work quickly to recover damages.
“The court has authorized us to seek immediate recovery on all of Infowars’ assets, and we intend to do just that,” Christopher Mattei said in a statement on Friday. “Alex Jones is no martyr or victim. He is the perpetrator of the worst defamation in American history.”
Following the December 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Jones and guests on his show repeatedly questioned whether the massacre actually happened and floated conspiracy theories that the killings were staged or carried out by government agents.
The attack killed 20 children and six school staff.
Jones has previously called the attack a “giant hoax,” saying in 2015, “Sandy Hook was, in my opinion, a total hoax with actors. I know there were actors, obviously, but I thought they killed real kids. The fact that they obviously used actors just shows how audacious they were.”
Jones later acknowledged that the Sandy Hook shooting had occurred.
After the broadcast, the victim’s family faced harassment online and in person from Infowars viewers, and filed and won defamation lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas, which resulted in Jones and Free Speech Systems being declared bankrupt.
Friday’s hearing was over whether the bankruptcy cases should be converted from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a part of the U.S. bankruptcy code that allows for simple liquidation rather than more complicated financial reorganizations.
In recent broadcasts and on his social media accounts, Jones has slammed the US justice system and continues to claim there is a government conspiracy to silence him.
US free speech laws mean that even if his company is liquidated, he will be allowed to set up a new company and continue broadcasting, but he has repeatedly warned that he will be taken off the air.
“We averted disaster, thank Jesus,” Jones said on Infowars after the hearing. “If the judge hadn’t made the right decision, I would be off the air today. We live to fight again.”
During the hearing, lawyers for the family argued that conspiracy theorists were trying to undermine the value of their companies, for example by encouraging listeners to buy products from companies owned by their father rather than directly from Infowars.
But Jones’ lawyers countered, arguing the company had achieved record sales in recent weeks.
