A Houston bankruptcy judge on Friday ordered the personal assets of Alex Jones to be liquidated and sold, with the proceeds distributed among the Sandy Hook families. But the judge spared Mr. Jones from having to shutter his Infowars media business.
The ruling will allow Mr. Jones to continue broadcasting on Infowars, while the families continue to pursue payment of the enormous defamation damages awarded them.
The outcome sharply divided the Sandy Hook families. Families who sued Mr. Jones in Texas favored Friday’s decision, which will keep Mr. Jones on the air but allow them to potentially receive more in damages from the Infowars income. Families who sued Mr. Jones in Connecticut favored settling for less money and shutting Mr. Jones down, although they acknowledged he would not be silenced entirely.
Mr. Jones is appealing the judgments against him, a fight that is expected to take years.
Estimates in court filings place the value of Mr. Jones’s personal assets at less than $5 million, nowhere near the $1.4 billion that juries in Texas and Connecticut awarded the families in late 2022.
Dividing $5 million by the plaintiffs who are entitled to damages comes to less than $250,000 each, but that does not include substantial bankruptcy-related legal and administrative costs, which are paid first.
The judge’s decision came nearly a dozen years after 20 first graders and six educators died in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012.
Mr. Jones spent years spreading lies that the massacre was a hoax aimed at confiscating Americans’ firearms, and that the victims’ families were actors complicit in the plot. The families suffered online abuse, personal confrontations and death threats from people who believed the conspiracy theory.
“The right call is to dismiss this case,” Judge Christopher Lopez said in court on Friday afternoon, referring to his decision to dismiss the bankruptcy and keep Infowars in business. “This case is one of the more difficult cases I’ve had, but when you look at it, I think creditors are better served.”
Alex Jones Makes First Statements
Victory: Infowars Wins Court Battle To Stay Open
Support https://t.co/c7Lo59AJZ5 pic.twitter.com/KURytpyMQh
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) June 15, 2024
The results of todays Infowars bankruptcy hearing are in. pic.twitter.com/x9lyobxMER
— Rob Dew (@DewsNewz) June 14, 2024
