A federal judge in Texas agreed Alex Jones can liquidate his personal assets to settle a defamation lawsuit stemming from the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Judge Christopher Lopez of the Southern District of Texas ruled an interim trustee will be appointed to oversee the process as it moves from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing into a Chapter 7 liquidation.
Lopez rejected the plan proposed for the liquidation of the Free Speech Systems, the parent company of InfoWars. The judge said he believed his decision was in the best interest of the creditors, per CNN. It is not immediately clear what will happen to the company.
"This was a victory for the truth," Jones said in a video interview following the ruling. "And it gives Free Speech Systems and the crew a roadmap and a future forward to at least stay open three, four months."
He added: "So, the way it works with me in personal bankruptcy ... the new trustee is the owner, I am the boss, and then I will work with him with whatever is legal and lawful to try to move forward with the restitution and just follow the law. But the bizarre political attempts to hijack the operation have failed. This is historical." BREAKING: Alex Jones court case update
“This is a victory for the truth”
TUNE IN NOW https://t.co/FVpEgNvZfU pic.twitter.com/JIo51wZfyG
— Blair (@skifflegirl) June 14, 2024
The InfoWars founder was ordered to pay the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting nearly $1 billion in 2022. He was later ordered to pay an additional $437 million for promoting conspiracy theories about the school shooting, bringing the total to approximately $1.5 billion.
Jones has already moved to sell his $2.8 million Texas ranch, a number of guns and other assets to pay the court-ordered fine. As part of the liquidation plan, Jones will keep his primary residence in the Austin area.
"There's really no avenue out of this," Jones said on his show on June 2, per CBS News. "I'm kind of in the bunker here. And don't worry. I'll come back. The enemy can't help but do this attack.”
Jones reportedly has $9 million in personal assets and $4 million in cash on hand.
“Jones has been urging followers to download videos from his online archive to preserve them and pointing them to a new website of his father’s company if they want to continue buying the dietary supplements he sells on his show,” reports The Guardian.
“Infowars will live on through all the great work we’ve done, all the reports we’ve filed, through you saving them and you sharing them, and of course I will come back stronger than ever,” said Jones on his radio show on June 12, per the Hartford Courant. “But I’m going to stay with the ship until it fully sinks. … At the last moment, I will then step onto the next ship.”
Ahead of the June 14 ruling, InfoWars employees shared messages of support on X. Free Speech Systems employs 44 people and made $3.2 million in April.
“This is an unprecedented attack on free speech and a thriving media org beloved by millions across the globe,” wrote contributor Dan Lyman. “Our faith unshakably lies in God’s perfect plan.”
“With all the lies told us by mainstream news outlets, lies into wars, lockdowns, poisons, Infowars faces shut down while they stay on air,” wrote Owen Shroyer. “This is the result of totalitarians in a banana republic.”
“But the public will decide the story of Infowars, and whatever happens today, the Legend of Infowars will be telling the truth in a world of lies,” continued the show host. “Standing for Freedom in the face of tyrants.”
In a statement on behalf of the Sandy Hook families, attorney Chris Mattei said it was a "good day."
"Alex Jones has lost ownership of Infowars, the corrupt business he has used for years to attack the Connecticut families and so many others,” said Mattei. “The Court authorized us to move immediately to collect against all Infowars assets, and we intend to do exactly that.”
Editor's Note: A previous version of this article did not include comments from Jones following the ruling, information about the judge's rejection of a plan to liquidate Free Speech Systems, or a statement on behalf of the Sandy Hook families.
