HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered the liquidation of Alex Jones, conspiracy theorist ‘ personal assets, but he was still ruling on his company’s separate bankruptcy filing, leaving the future of his Infowars media platform uncertain as he owed $1.5 billion for his false claims that THE Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax.
Judge Christopher Lopez approved the conversion of Jones’ proposed personal bankruptcy reorganization to liquidation. He planned to hear testimony on whether Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems, based in Austin, Texas, should also be liquidated. Free Speech Systems is the parent company of Infowars.
Lopez’s ruling issued earlier Friday means many of Jones’ personal assets will be sold. But his primary residence in the Austin area and some other assets are exempt from liquidation. He has already decided to sell his Texas ranch worth about $2.8 million, a gun collection and other assets to help pay his debts.
Jones did not appear to react when the judge issued the order regarding his personal assets, but became more animated when Lopez heard lawyers talk about the possible liquidation of Free Speech Systems. At times, he muttered under his breath or shook his head when lawyers for some Sandy Hook families discussed statements Jones made on his Infowars show this week.
He told his internet and radio listeners that Free Speech Systems was on the verge of closing down due to bankruptcy. A headline on the Infowars website on Friday read: “Watch Live!” Will this be the last day of Infowars broadcasts?
He also urged his followers to download videos from his online archives to preserve them and direct them to a new website for his father’s company if they want to continue purchasing the dietary supplements he sells in his emission.
“It’s probably the end of Infowars here very, very soon. “If not today, in the next few weeks or months,” Jones told reporters in court ahead of Friday’s hearing. “But this is only the beginning of my fight against tyranny.”
Jones has approximately $9 million in personal assets, according to the most recent financial documents filed in court. Free Speech Systems has about $6 million in cash and about $1.2 million in inventory, according to J. Patrick Magill, the court-appointed restructuring manager to run the company through bankruptcy.
Jones and Free Speech Systems filed for bankruptcy In 2022, when relatives of many victims of the 2012 school shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, won their cases in court rulings. more than $1.4 billion in Connecticut And $49 million in Texas.
Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families seek liquidation.
“This will allow Connecticut families to enforce their $1.4 billion in judgments, now and in the future, while depriving Jones of the ability to inflict massive damages as he has done for 25 years,” he said. said Chris Mattei, attorney for the Connecticut families. the Connecticut case, said.
Relatives said they were traumatized by Jones’ comments and the actions of his supporters. They tested to be harassed and threatened by Jones’ supporters, some of whom confronted grieving families in person saying the shooting never happened and their children never existed. A parent said someone threatened to dig up her deceased son’s grave.
Jones and Free Speech Systems initially filed for bankruptcy protection that would have allowed him to run Infowars while paying families with revenue from his show. But the two sides could not agree on a final plan, and Jones recently submitted an application for authorization transition your personal bankruptcy from a reorganization to a liquidation.
Families involved in the Connecticut lawsuit, including relatives of eight deceased children and adults, requested that Free Speech Systems’ separate bankruptcy case also be converted to liquidation. But the parents involved in the Texas lawsuit — whose child, 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, died — want the company’s case to be thrown out.
The company’s lawyers filed documents indicating it supported liquidation, but attorneys for Jones’ personal bankruptcy case do not support that plan and want the judge to throw out the company’s case.
If Free Speech Systems’ case is dismissed, the company could return to the same position it was in after the $1.5 billion lawsuit was awarded. Efforts to recover damages would be referred to the state courts of Texas and Connecticut. This could give Infowars an extended lifeline while collection efforts unfolded.
Although he has since acknowledged that the Sandy Hook shooting took place, Jones has said on his recent shows that Democrats and the “deep state” were conspiring to shut down his businesses and take away his free speech because of his opinions. He also said the Sandy Hook families were being used as pawns in the plot. The families’ lawyers say this makes no sense.
According to the most recent financial statements filed with the bankruptcy court, Jones’ $9 million in personal assets include his $2.6 million Austin-area home and other real estate. He estimated his living expenses at about $69,000 for the month of April alone, including about $16,500 for expenses related to his house.
Free Speech Systems, which employs 44 people, earned nearly $3.2 million in April, including sales of dietary supplements, clothing and other items that Jones promotes on his show, while listing $1.9 million in expenses.
The families have a lawsuit pending in Texas accusing Jones of embezzling and illegally hiding millions of dollars. Jones has denied the allegations.
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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.