Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones‘ Infowars assets will be going under the hammer at auction to help pay the over US$1 billion he owes to the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.
On Tuesday, a judge in Houston ordered Jones’ assets from his media company, Free Speech Systems, to be auctioned off. This includes the Infowars website, social media accounts, technical equipment and any product trademarks.
In 2022, Jones was ordered to pay nearly US$1.5 billion to the Sandy Hook families for defamation and emotional distress. The far-right online personality called the 2012 school shooting, which left 20 Grade 1 students and six adults dead, a “hoax” carried out by “crisis actors.” Jones told his audience the shooting in Newtown, Conn., was staged in an attempt to pass more gun legislation in the U.S.
The two 2022 trials in Texas and Connecticut saw emotional testimony from several relatives of students and faculty members killed at Sandy Hook. Many said their lives have been fundamentally impacted by harassment caused by Jones’ conspiracy, with one parent telling the court Jones’ supporters have threatened to exhume his son’s grave.
The future of Infowars is currently unclear. Jones has seemed relatively unfazed by the auction and has suggested his followers could purchase the assets on his behalf.
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“It’s very cut and dry that the assets of Free Speech Systems, the website, the equipment, the shopping cart, all that, can be sold,” Jones said on a recent show, according to The Associated Press. “And they know full well that there are a bunch of patriot buyers, and then the operation can ease on.”
Anyone can make a bid in the auction, which is currently set for Nov. 13 and Dec. 10. The earlier auction will likely see intellectual property and the Infowars domain name and trademarks go under the hammer, while the later auction will feature physical gear like computers, cameras and studio equipment.
Jones has also suggested he could create a new website to continue his talk shows.
Ahead of the 2022 defamation trials, Free Speech Systems, of which Jones owns 100 per cent, declared bankruptcy. Shortly afterward, Jones also declared personal bankruptcy.
It is unclear how much money the Sandy Hook families will actually receive.
Jones has about US$9 million in personal assets, according to court filings. Free Speech Systems has about US$6 million in cash on hand and about US$1.2 million worth of inventory, according to previous court testimony. Allocation of Jones’ payments has not yet been fully determined.
Jones’ personal social media accounts will not be included in the auction, though the Sandy Hook families have asked for Jones to lose his personal accounts too. Negotiations between Jones’ team and the families is ongoing.
There’s been much debate between the Texas and Connecticut families on how to handle Jones’ damages.
Lawyers for the eight families who sued in Connecticut asked the bankruptcy court to shutter Free Speech Systems and liquidate the assets, with money earned paid to the relatives. But in Texas, the Sandy Hook families pitched a settlement that would see Jones pay the families a percentage of his income over the next decade — and be barred from speaking about the Sandy Hook shooting ever again.
The Sandy Hook families are expected to receive their damages after lawyers and other financial experts involved in the lawsuits have been paid.
Jones is appealing the verdicts from the Texas and Connecticut civil trials. His lawyer has argued Jones was using his rights to free speech when discussing the Sandy Hook shooting and said the families did not prove a connection between the harassment they experienced and his conspiratorial comments on Infowars.
Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families in the Connecticut lawsuit, said the judge’s signing of the auction order will be “a significant step forward” in the families’ efforts to make Jones pay for his hoax misinformation.
“Alex Jones will no longer own or control the company he built,” Mattei said in a statement released Tuesday. “This brings the families closer to their goal of holding him accountable for the harm he has caused.”
— With files from The Associated Press
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