HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ‘s personal assets but dismissed a separate bankruptcy proceeding for the company, leaving the immediate future of the Infowars media platform uncertain. Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting It was a hoax.
Judge Christopher Lopez approved Jones’s personal bankruptcy reorganization plan to be converted to liquidation. Judge Lopez, however, dismissed the lawsuit against Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems of Austin, Texas, after Jones’ unsuccessful attempts to reach an agreement with the Sandy Hook Elementary School survivors on a reorganization and continuation plan. Jones had offered to reorganize and continue operating the company while paying the survivors millions of dollars, but failed.
It wasn’t immediately clear what will happen to Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, in the coming weeks. Mr. Jones built the company into a multimillion-dollar revenue stream selling dietary supplements and other products over the past 25 years. But Mr. Jones and lawyers for the families of those killed in the Sandy Hook massacre said they expected Infowars to eventually cease operations because of huge debts.
A trustee appointed Friday to oversee the liquidation of Jones’ personal bankruptcy case has taken control of Jones’ assets, including Infowars, according to lawyers for the families of those killed in the Sandy Hook shooter.
The dismissal of the Free Speech Systems lawsuit means the family can immediately begin recovering $1.5 billion in state courts in Texas and Connecticut, where they won defamation suits against Jones and the company. Infowars may continue to operate during the recovery effort, which could include a sale of the company’s assets.
Jones, who smiled when the judge dismissed the company’s lawsuit, called Infowars after the court hearing and predicted more fights in state court. “This weird political attempt to take over this operation has failed,” he said, adding that if he lost the case against Infowars, he would find another way to air the show.
Outside court, he blasted the family for not accepting his restructuring plan, claiming they were being used by political parties in a conspiracy to silence him. He said he would try to maximize Infowars’ profits to make money for creditors, then wind down the business while providing for his 44 employees.
“This is about taking me off the air,” Jones said. “Please understand that what the corporate media has reported about me and what I’ve said about the Sandy Hook shooting or anything I’ve said on this subject has absolutely no bearing on reality.”
Chris Mattei, an attorney for the families of those killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, said Infowars “will soon be gone” as his clients pursue debt collection efforts in state court. He said the families will also be pursuing Jones’ future earnings.
“Today is a good day,” Mattei said in a text message after the hearing. “Alex Jones has lost his ownership of Infowars, which he used for years to attack Connecticut families and so many others. … Alex Jones is not a martyr or a victim. He is the perpetrator of the worst defamation in the history of the United States.”
Lopez, who had been urged to convert Free Speech Systems’ bankruptcy reorganization to liquidation or to drop the case, said he was only interested in what was best for the company and its creditors. He also said the Free Speech Systems case was one of the longest-running in the country and deadlines for resolution were looming.
“I was never asked to make a decision today about whether to cancel the show or not, and in any event, it was never going to happen today,” Lopez said. “This case is one of the most difficult I have tried, and upon reflection, I believe the creditors would be better off asserting their state court rights.”
Much of Jones’ personal assets will be sold, but his Austin-area home and other possessions are exempt from the bankruptcy proceedings. He has already moved to sell off a Texas ranch worth about $2.8 million, his gun collection and other assets to pay off debts.
Ahead of Friday’s hearing, Jones told his Web and radio viewers that Free Speech Systems was on the verge of closing due to bankruptcy. He urged viewers to download and save the video from an online archive and pointed them to his father’s company’s new website if they wanted to continue buying the nutritional supplements he sells on the show.
Jones has personal assets of about $9 million, according to the company’s most recent financial filings in court. Free Speech Systems has about $6 million in cash and about $1.2 million worth of inventory, according to J. Patrick McGill, the court-appointed chief restructuring officer to run the company through the bankruptcy proceedings.
At Friday’s hearing, lawyers for the Sandy Hook Elementary School families repeated their allegations that Jones illegally misappropriated millions of dollars before and during his bankruptcy and questioned his decision to direct audience members to his father’s website, where the families are currently suing in Texas. They accused Jones of illegally misappropriating funds. He denied this and said he would continue to try to get it back.
Jones and the Free Speech System Filed for bankruptcy In 2022, the families of the victims of the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 20 first-graders and six teachers, More than $1.4 billion in Connecticut and $49 million in Texas.
Family members said they were upset by Jones’ comments and the actions of his supporters. I was harassed or threatened Some of Jones’ followers have spoken out face-to-face with grieving families to insist the shooting never happened and that the children never existed. One parent said someone had threatened to dig up her son’s grave.
Jones is appealing the ruling in state court.
The families in the Connecticut case, including relatives of the eight children and adults who died, had also asked for the Free Speech Systems bankruptcy case to be converted into liquidation, but the parents in the Texas case, whose 6-year-old Jesse Lewis died, also asked for the company’s case to be dismissed, arguing it would speed up the collection of Jones’ debts.
The company’s lawyers have filed documents in support of liquidation, but Jones’ lawyers in his personal bankruptcy case have asked the judge to dismiss the company’s case.
___
Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.
