Alex Jones Ordered to Liquidate Assets to Pay $1.5 Billion Sandy Hook Settlement
Alex Jones was ordered Friday to pay the $1.5 billion settlement to the families of children slain in the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting by liquidating his personal assets.
Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. bankruptcy court for the southern district of Texas, Houston division, ruled on Jones’ bankruptcy claim Friday, determining how the InfoWars media founder and “Alex Jones Show” host will pay his 2022 Sandy Hook settlement after ceaseless false reports that the 2012 shooting was a hoax and a conspiracy.
Jones filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 alongside the InfoWars parent company Free Speech Systems, but Lopez moved to convert Jones’ personal bankruptcy proposal to liquidation. According to court filings obtained by TheWrap, the former host has $9 million in assets.
Jones has already made moves to sell his Texas ranch, which is reportedly worth around $2.8 million. He’s also looking to sell his gun collection and other assets to pay his debts, according to AP. Jones’ Austin area home and select other assets are exempt from the liquidation.
Judge Lopez has yet to make a decision on the liquidation of Free Speech Systems’ assets.
“This is probably the end of Infowars here very, very soon. If not today, in the next few weeks or months,” Jones said before Friday’s hearing. “But it’s just the beginning of my fight against tyranny.”
Jones’ initial 2022 bankruptcy filing came after the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook tragedy won lawsuits in both Connecticut and Austin. Those judgements were more than $1.4 billion in Connecticut and $49 million in Texas.
Back in December, Elon Musk allowed Jones back onto social media platform X after many activists worked to get the conspiracy theorist banned from a number of sites. Although it was disheartening to some at the time, experts were convinced the damage he could cause now would be “muted.”
“Alex Jones’ reach will be muted due to the number of users fleeing the platform on a regular basis. On a per capita basis, X has fewer users that will be exposed to such content,” Julianna Kirschner, a lecturer at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, told TheWrap at the time.
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