Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has moved to liquidate his personal assets in order to pay the $1.5 billion he owes the families of Sandy Hook massacre victims, who say they were harassed by Jones’ followers who believed his lies that the 2012 school shooting was a hoax.
Jones asked a judge to convert his bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 liquidation, relinquishing his desperate effort to save InfoWars, the conspiracy platform from which he regularly spewed baseless claims. Last weekend, he blubbered on air that he was being “targeted for abuse” by “deep state” actors who wanted to shut down his show, and he begged listeners to buy his dietary supplements to support him. The next day, the Sandy Hook families asked the Texas judge overseeing his bankruptcy case to liquidate his assets, including InfoWars and Free Speech Systems.
Jones’ attorneys affirmed in a Thursday court filing that “there is no reasonable prospect of a successful reorganization” of his debts.
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Avi Moshenberg, a lawyer representing the Sandy Hook families, told CNN that the liquidation move ultimately “means [Jones’] ownership in Free Speech Systems is going to get sold,” ending Jones’ hold over a conspiracy theory empire he’s held for decades.
Yet Jones was uncharacteristically silent on the Friday taping of his show. Earlier in the week in at least two shows he emotionally ranted about how the Sandy Hook families were “abusing” him, blowing off steam about their lawsuit and the enormous sum he was ordered to pay. On Friday he largely carried on business as usual, spewing a typical roundup of baseless claims.
Jones was ordered to pay $1.5 billion to the families of Sandy Hook victims in 2022 by courts in Texas and Connecticut, which found that he caused the families emotional distress by claiming the 2012 massacre was a hoax intended by the government to seize Americans’ guns.
