HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered the liquidation of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ′ personal property and was still ruling on his company’s separate bankruptcy case. The move could determine the future of his Infowars media platform, as Jones owes $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 still had to decide whether Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems, based in Austin, Texas, should also be liquidated.
It was not immediately clear what would happen to Free Speech Systems, which is Infowars’ parent company.
Many of Jones’ personal assets will be sold, but he is expected to retain his primary residence in the Austin area and some other assets that are exempt from bankruptcy 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 had no real reaction after the judge made the order regarding his personal property.
He told his internet users and radio listeners that Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, was on the verge of closing its doors due to bankruptcy. A headline on the Infowars website on Friday read: “Watch Live!” Will this be the last day of Infowars broadcasts?
“It’s 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 this is only the beginning of my fight against tyranny.”
Jones urged his followers to download videos from his online archive 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 on his show .
Jones has about $9 million in personal assets, while his business has about $4 million in cash, according to the most recent financial documents filed in court.
Free Speech Systems, based in Jones and Austin, Texas filed for bankruptcy 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 their legal case. 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 testified to having been 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.
Lawyers for the company filed documents indicating it supported liquidation, but attorneys for Jones’ personal bankruptcy case filed a motion Wednesday saying he did not support that plan and wanted the judge to throw out Jones’s case. the society.
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 personally owns about $9 million in assets, including 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.
___
Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.
Gn headline
News Source : apnews.com
