Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has asked a U.S. judge to convert his bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 liquidation, a move that would kick-start the selling off of his assets, including his stake in Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars, in an effort to pay off the Sandy Hook settlement.
Jones is on the hook for a massive US$1.5-billion legal settlement owed to the families of Sandy Hook victims after they sued him for defamation. Jones claimed for years on his Infowars website that the 2o12 Sandy Hook school shooting, which killed 20 students and six staff members, was pulled off by crisis actors as part of a plot to seize Americans’ guns. Jones has since acknowledged that the massacre was real.
Two years after courts in Texas and Connecticut found Jones liable for defamation and emotional distress, the families of Sandy Hook victims still have not seen a single cent of the settlement they’re owed. Jones filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy shortly after the settlements were awarded, which allowed him to retain control of his assets while working to restructure his debt.
Bankruptcy can be used to wipe out debts and legal judgments, but the judge overseeing Jones’ case ruled in October that most of the defamation verdicts cannot be legally discharged because they resulted from “willful and malicious injury” caused by Jones.
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In a late court filing on Thursday, Jones’ lawyers wrote that “there is no reasonable prospect of a successful reorganization” of Jones’ debts. Thus, they are pursuing a Chapter 7 liquidation, which will liquidate his assets in a lower-cost and more streamlined court procedure, according to the filing.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy requires more spending on legal fees than a Chapter 7 liquidation, and those costs now come with “little benefit,” Jones’ lawyers wrote.
Converting to a Chapter 7 liquidation means that Jones’ “ownership in Free Speech Systems is going to get sold,” said Avi Moshenberg, one of the lawyers representing the Sandy Hook families, in a statement to CNN.
If the motion is accepted by the judge, a court-appointed trustee will liquidate Jones’ personal assets, including his stake in Free Speech Systems — but this doesn’t necessarily mean the end of Infowars. It’s possible that the court-appointed trustee could sell the business to a new owner.
In a tearful “emergency broadcast” last weekend, Jones said he expects Infowars to be shut down in the next month or so. On Tuesday, he said on his show that the families of Sandy Hook victims were trying to silence him with “a made-up kangaroo court debt.”
The families of Sandy Hook victims testified in court in 2022 that they received death threats, abusive messages on social media and in-person harassment from Jones’ followers who believed the conspiracy theory that the 2012 school shooting was a hoax. Some were even forced to move to escape the abuse.
All the while, Jones profited from the lies as his Infowars website enjoyed increased traffic and sales, they said.
Jones had asked the Sandy Hook families to vote for a bankruptcy settlement that would have paid them $55 million, but they unanimously rejected the deal.
The Sandy Hook families instead offered their own proposal for liquidating Jones’ assets, and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez will consider approving that plan at a June 14 court hearing.
— With files from Reuters
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