Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is requesting court approval to convert his personal bankruptcy reorganization to a liquidation process. This would involve selling a significant portion of his assets to help settle some of the $1.5 billion debt he owes to the relatives of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
After facing lawsuits from the Sandy Hook families for repeatedly claiming that the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, which resulted in the death of 20 first graders and six educators, was a hoax on his Infowars programs, Jones and his media company, Free Speech Systems, filed for bankruptcy reorganization.
Due to the inability to reach a resolution with the Sandy Hook families, Jones has filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston to convert his personal bankruptcy case from Chapter 11 reorganization to Chapter 7 liquidation.
According to Jones’ filing, “The Debtor does not anticipate that a resolution may be reached with the other parties in interest sufficient to confirm a chapter 11 plan of reorganization.”
Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the families, stated, “Alex Jones has hurt so many people. The Connecticut families have fought for years to hold him responsible no matter the cost and at great personal peril. Their steadfast focus on meaningful accountability, and not just money, is what has now brought him to the brink of justice in the way that matters most.”
The Sandy Hook families are also requesting the judge to convert Free Speech Systems’ case from reorganization to liquidation.
Judge Christopher Lopez has scheduled a June 14 hearing in Houston to decide on the resolution of the cases.
If Free Speech Systems’ case is withdrawn, the company would return to its pre-lawsuit position, and the efforts to collect damages would go back to the state courts in Texas and Connecticut where the verdicts were reached.
Jones has already begun selling some of his personal assets to pay creditors, including his Texas ranch worth around $2.8 million.
A liquidation of Jones’ and his company’s assets would only cover a fraction of what he owes the Sandy Hook families. Jones personally has about $9 million in assets, including his $2.6 million home in Texas.
Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, had nearly $4 million in cash on-hand at the end of April.
Jones has stated that even if Free Speech Systems and Infowars are sold off, he could resume his broadcasts in another form.
Before these recent developments, Jones had proposed a plan to keep operating Free Speech Systems and Infowars while paying the Sandy Hook families a minimum total of $55 million over 10 years. The families had offered to settle their debt for a minimum of $85 million.
Many of the families of the Sandy Hook victims sued Jones and won in the Connecticut and Texas trials.
They testified about being harassed and threatened by Jones’ followers, who claimed that the shooting was a hoax and confronted the grieving families in person.
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