Alex Jones ordered to liquidate assets to pay for Sandy Hook conspiracy suit

A federal judge ordered on Friday liquidation of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ personal assets and was still deciding on his company’s separate bankruptcy case. The ruling could determine the future of his Infowars media platform, as Jones is owed $1.5 billion for his false claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.

Judge Christopher Lopez approved the conversion of Jones’ personal bankruptcy recovery proposal to liquidation. He must still decide whether Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems, based in Austin, Texas, should also be liquidated.

Many of Jones’ personal assets will be sold, but he is expected to keep his primary home in the Austin area and some other belongings that are exempt from bankruptcy liquidation. He has already decided to sell his Texas ranch, valued at about $2.8 million, a gun collection and other assets to help pay off debts.

Jones had no real reaction after the judge issued the order regarding his personal assets. CBS affiliate KHOU reported that every seat in the gallery was occupied when the hearing began this morning.

Jones has been telling his viewers and radio listeners that Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, is on the verge of being shut down because of bankruptcy. A headline on the Infowars website on Friday read: “Watch Live! Will this be the last day of Infowars broadcasts?”

“This is probably the end of Infowars here very, very soon. If not today, in the next few weeks or months,” Jones told reporters before the hearing began. “But it’s just the beginning of my fight against tyranny.”

Jones has been encouraging his followers to download videos from his online archive to preserve them and pointing them to a new website for his father’s company if they want to continue buying the dietary supplements he sells on his show.

Free Speech Systems, based in Austin, Texas, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 when relatives of many victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, which killed 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, won court judgments worth more than $1.4 billion in Connecticut and $49 million in Texas.

Attorneys for the Sandy Hook families are seeking settlement.

“Doing so will allow Connecticut families to enforce their $1.4 billion in judgments now and in the future, while also depriving Jones of the ability to inflict mass harm, as he has done for nearly 25 years,” said Chris Mattei, attorney for the families in the Connecticut case, said.

Relatives said they were traumatized by Jones’ comments and the actions of his followers. They testified about being harassed and threatened by Jones’ believers, some of whom personally confronted the grieving families, saying the shooting never happened and their children never existed. A father said someone threatened to dig up his dead 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 proceeds from his program. But the two sides were unable to agree on a final plan, and Jones recently asked for permission to change his personal bankruptcy from a reorganization to a liquidation.

Families in the Connecticut lawsuit, including relatives of eight dead children and adults, asked that the separate Free Speech Systems bankruptcy case also be converted to liquidation. But the parents in the Texas lawsuit — whose son, 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, died — want the company’s case dismissed.

Lawyers for the company filed documents indicating it supported liquidation, but lawyers in Jones’ personal bankruptcy case filed a motion Wednesday saying he does not support that plan and wants the judge to dismiss 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 was awarded in the lawsuits. Efforts to collect damages would return to state courts in Texas and Connecticut. This could give Infowars an extended lifeline as collection efforts unfold.

Although he has since acknowledged that the Sandy Hook Shooting happened, Jones has said on his recent shows that Democrats and the “deep state” are conspiring to shut down his companies and take away his free speech rights because of his views. He also said the Sandy Hook Families are being used as pawns in the conspiracy. Lawyers for the families say this is absurd.

According to the most recent financial statements filed in bankruptcy court, Jones personally owns about $9 million in assets, including his $2.6 million Austin-area home and other real estate. He listed his living expenses at about $69,000 in April alone, including about $16,500 for his home expenses.

Free Speech Systems, which employs 44 people, made 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 illegally embezzling and hiding millions of dollars. Jones denied the allegations.