Alex Jones to lose assets, ownership of Infowars in Sandy Hook personal bankruptcy case

Alex Jones will no longer own Infowars, the conspiracy theory show that made him famous, after a Houston judge on Friday ordered Jones to liquidate his personal assets to begin to pay $1.5 billion to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting victims over false claims he made about the tragedy.

The judge had not decided by 3 p.m. Friday whether to grant the families' motion to also liquidate Free Speech Systems, the show's parent company.

The decision is a forward step in a yearslong battle the families have faced to recover damages. Jones helped build a reputation on claims that the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was "staged" and that grieving parents were paid actors. Juries in Austin and Waterbury, Conn., in 2022 found Jones responsible for intentional infliction of emotional harm against the families.

In two separate trials, families testified that they endured years of near-constant torment from Jones' followers, including harassment and death and rape threats. Jones has since acknowledged the shooting occurred.

Jones has until now avoided paying even a dollar of the owed damages — and escaped accountability, the families have argued — by keeping his personal estate and his company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows a debtor to reorganize a company rather than immediately sell its assets.

Last week, Jones finally agreed to the families’ request that he convert his personal bankruptcy case to a Chapter 7 liquidation. Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Texas approved the conversion.

In a news conference before Friday's hearing, Jones baselessly claimed that the FBI and CIA "created" the cases and "organized the plaintiffs" against him. Infowars ran live broadcasts throughout the day, with one post on X, formerly Twitter, noting that Tucker Carlson, an American far-right political commentator, and Russell Brand, an English comedian and actor, would join him for what "could be the LAST broadcast of Infowars!"

Jones is estimated to be worth about $9 million, according to the most recent legal filings, a valuation that includes his $2 million home, which Texas law protects him from having to sell.

The move will force the Austin-based multimillionaire to auction off his personal belongings to pay his debt, and he must part with his ownership of Free Speech Systems.

Jones has already sold his Kingsbury ranch, about 60 miles south of Austin, for $2.8 million and has put his gun collection up for auction as part of the personal bankruptcy proceedings, which began in 2022, according to legal filings.

However, lawyers for the Sandy Hook families expressed concern Friday that Jones would not disclose all his assets to a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee. Attorney Katherine Porter noted that an early investigation uncovered Jones had transferred several valuable property items to family members with "the clear intent to hinder, delay and deprive creditors."

Jones made "a flurry of transactions in advance of the petition and after judgments had been entered against the debtor to his family, close family," she said. "Several million dollars in value was diverted in this way. So this is a very serious point of concern for the committee" of families.

Lopez noted in Friday's hearing that he would strictly enforce asset disclosure rules.

"I'm going to follow the rules, follow the process, that way everybody's entitled to due process and everybody's rights are preserved — the Texas families, the Connecticut families, Mr. Jones, Free Speech Systems," Lopez said.

In September, The Associated Press reported that Jones was continuing to spend lavishly — blowing through $93,000 in June 2023 — while airing complaints about his financial issues.

While bankruptcy often allows a debtor to wipe out debts or legal judgments, Jones will continue to owe the families even after his current assets are gone. Lopez, the Houston judge, ruled in October that Jones would still be responsible for $1.1 billion in damages after bankruptcy because of the "willful or malicious injury" he was found to have inflicted. Jones is appealing that ruling.

The outcome of a lawsuit accusing Jones of hiding millions of dollars in assets from the families is still pending in a Travis County state District Court. That case was filed in 2022.

Sandy Hook families tormented

On Dec. 14, 2012, just hours after a gunman killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Jones told his show's listeners and watchers that the massacre was "staged" by opponents of Second Amendment rights.

Over the following years the conspiracy theorist's show grew in popularity while he claimed grieving parents were paid "crisis actors" and that the shooting never happened.

In two separate 2022 trials, victims' family members testified that they endured years of near-constant torment from Jones' followers. One parent testified that conspiracy theorists urinated on his 7-year-old son's grave and threatened to dig up the coffin. Another said she was threatened with rape; others received so many death threats they were forced to leave their homes and go into hiding.

Jones eventually acknowledged the shooting occurred, but he also maintained throughout the defamation proceedings that he was being unfairly targeted.

Jones is continuing to spin that narrative on his social media accounts and show, claiming the families' requests that he shut down his show and X account are part of a conspiracy against him.

More: Timeline: Legal fallout from Alex Jones' false claims that Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax

Court to decide fate of Infowars, Jones' social media accounts

The court on Friday also heard testimony and reviewed evidence on the families' motion to force liquidation of Free Speech Systems, converting it from a Chapter 11 to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

In the hearing, the company's court-appointed chief restructuring officer, Patrick Magill, testified that the company has around $6 million in cash on hand and $1.2 million in inventory. He said he did not believe the company would successfully reorganize and that he recommended liquidation.

Court testimony also centered around the question of how Jones would pay off his debts if Infowars continued without him or was shut down. Magill acknowledged that Jones would almost certainly be able to pay more to Sandy Hook families by continuing to propagate misinformation.

The families have also asked the judge to remove Jones’ access to his social media accounts, arguing that he has used his posts to drive down the value of Infowars and redirect earnings to his father, potentially out of reach of those whom he owes.

The conspiracy theorist decried those requests as an effort from the "deep state" to "cut his vocal cords" in a video Thursday that, like many of his posts, linked to his father’s medicinal supplement website.

"This is a dark day. This is an information coup over America," Jones said in a video posted to X. "The deep state is in full panic mode that they can shut me down. They can take my private communication and social media away, and they believe they can silence any of you."

Jones said Thursday that regardless of the ruling, he will not be silenced. Carlson also appeared on Infowars on Thursday to support him.

"Other talk shows are going to have me on, but this shows how naked and crazy and insane these anti-Americans are," Jones said.

The American-Statesman did not immediately hear back for comment Friday from lawyers for Jones, Free Speech Systems and the Sandy Hook families.

This is a developing story; check back for updates.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas judge orders Alex Jones to liquidate assets, sell off Infowars