NEW YORK — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has asked a U.S. judge to convert his bankruptcy into Chapter 7 liquidation, giving up attempts to settle massive court judgments related to his lies about the Sandy Elementary School massacre Hook in 2012.
Jones believes “there is no reasonable prospect of a successful reorganization” of his debts, most of which stem from $1.5 billion awarded in defamation suits, his lawyers said in a filing filed in court Thursday evening. A Chapter 7 liquidation would not allow Jones to escape paying legal judgments, but it would provide a streamlined process for selling its assets under the supervision of a court-appointed trustee.
Courts in Texas and Connecticut ordered Jones to pay $1.5 billion to the relatives of 20 students and six staff members killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Wash. Connecticut.
Bankruptcy can be used to erase debts and legal judgments, but the judge in Jones’ case ruled in October that most defamation verdicts could not be legally overturned because they resulted from “intentional harm.” and malicious” caused by Jones.
Jones said on his Alex Jones Show on Tuesday that the Sandy Hook families were trying to shut down his shows with “a court-made kangaroo debt.” A spokesperson for the Sandy Hook families declined to comment Thursday.
Jones has claimed for years that the Sandy Hook killings were staged with actors as part of a government plot to seize Americans’ guns. Jones has since admitted that the shooting took place.
The Sandy Hook families said Jones’ theories caused grieving parents to endure years of threats and harassment, while Jones profited from increased traffic and sales on his Infowars website.
Jones had asked the Sandy Hook families to vote in favor of a bankruptcy settlement that would have brought them $55 million, but they unanimously rejected the deal.
The Sandy Hook families instead offered their own proposal to liquidate Jones’ assets, and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez will consider approving the Sandy Hook families’ plan at a June 14 court hearing.
Since bankruptcy will likely result in the liquidation of Jones’ assets, he would prefer to liquidate his assets through a less costly and more streamlined legal process, according to the court filing.
Jones initially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allowed him to maintain control of his assets while working on a debt restructuring plan. But Chapter 11 requires more expense in attorney fees and court costs than a Chapter 7 liquidation, and those costs now result in “little benefit,” Jones’ attorneys wrote.