A Houston bankruptcy judge on Friday ordered the liquidation and sale of the personal assets of Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, with the proceeds to be distributed to Sandy Hook families. But the judge spared him from having to liquidate his Infowars business empire.
The ruling will allow Mr. Jones to continue broadcasting on Infowars, while the families continue to pursue payment of the huge defamation damages they have received.
The results deeply divided the Sandy Hook family. The families who sued him in Texas supported Friday’s decision, which will keep Mr. Jones on the air but allows them the possibility of receiving more damages. The families suing Mr. Jones in Connecticut favored settling for a smaller amount and shutting down Mr. Jones, though they acknowledged that would probably not silence him completely.
Either way, it could be years before families receive any significant portion of their damages. Mr. Jones is appealing the hefty sentences against him, a fight that is expected to last years.
Estimates in court filings put the combined value of Mr. Jones’s personal and business assets at less than $10 million, falling short of the $1.4 billion awarded by juries in Texas and Connecticut. for families by the end of 2022.
The division of $10 million among the plaintiffs entitles each plaintiff to damages of less than $500.00, but that amount does not include the substantial administrative and legal costs associated with the bankruptcy. property, paid in advance.
The judge’s decision comes nearly a decade after 20 first-graders and six educators were killed 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 to confiscate Americans’ guns and that the victims’ families were complicit in the plot. Families have endured online abuse, personal confrontations and death threats from people who believe in conspiracy theories.
