Left: Infowars founder Alex Jones appears in court to testify during the Sandy Hook defamation damages trial at Connecticut Superior Court, Sept. 22, 2022, in Waterbury, Conn. (Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool, File). Right: White roses with the faces of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are attached to a telephone pole near the school. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
In order to collect on the $1.5 billion in defamation judgments they won against Alex Jones, the families of the victims of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut have voted to liquidate the far-right conspiracy theorist’s assets.
The unanimous decision was filed on the docket at the federal bankruptcy court in Texas where the Infowars host’s empire — which also includes the company Free Speech Systems — is being picked over more than a year after he first filed a petition for personal bankruptcy protection. He filed for bankruptcy for Free Speech Systems while he was on trial in July 2023. Ultimately, he was held liable for his defamatory comments about the 2012 mass shooting in Newton, including repeatedly calling the tragedy a “giant hoax.”
In fact, the massacre left 26 people dead and two injured. Twenty children who attended the primary school and six adults were killed.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Jones is not able to cast off the staggering award ordered by Judge Christopher Lopez because his conduct was formally considered “willful and malicious,” and under bankruptcy laws in the United States, when an individual debtor causes such an injury of intentional emotional distress, there is no relief.
As part of the liquidation process, items like real estate, cars, cash and more are expected to be sold off. According to Bloomberg Law, there will be a hearing next month where a detailed plan for the liquidation will be sorted out.
Jones had initially proposed that his assets be broken apart differently, offering to pay down his debt over a decade. The offer was to pay no less than $5.5 million during that time with proceeds coming out of his personal income, the sale of his assets and profits drawn off First Speech Systems. That was rejected.
An attorney for Jones and the families did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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