Jones and Infowars' parent company, Free Speech Systems (FSS), filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 after being ordered to pay families who sued him over statements made about the school shooting. A jury in Connecticut awarded victims’ families $965 million in compensatory damages, a Texas jury awarded parents of a child killed in the incident $49 million in damages, while a judge separately added another $473 million in punitive damages. Yesterday, lawyers for the families filed an emergency motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court arguing that FSS has “no prospect” of having a reorganization plan approved by the court. “FSS has now lingered in bankruptcy for almost two years,” the filing states. “At this time, FSS has no prospect of a confirmable plan of reorganization, and has failed to demonstrate any hope of beginning to satisfy the Connecticut Families’ claims.” The filing came ahead of a hearing scheduled for June 14, where the court was expected to indicate if the case would either be dismissed or confirmed. Lawyers for the families want the court to convert the case to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, rather than dismiss it outright, which would force liquidation of the company and its assets. Jones would be able to keep his home and personal assets. Over the past several months, Jones’ lawyers have been unable to reach an agreement with attorneys for the families on how to resolve the cases. In the court filing, the families say that dismissal would result in Jones attempting to obstruct their ability to receive payments awarded in the lawsuits. Attorneys for the families argue that statements made during a June 1 broadcast reinforce this possibility. “Jones made several false and offensive statements about FSS’s own chief restructuring officer and other critical players in the FSS Case, and declared that Jones will, upon dismissal, resume full control of FSS and employ whatever means necessary to do so,” the filing reads. According to the court document, when Jones said during the broadcast that the court would “wash his hands like Pontius Pilate” of the case, it would allow him to retain control of FSS without compensating the families. “Jones made clear that he will not ‘play along’ with others’ plans after he takes ‘control’ back of FSS, and even threatened to blockade the FSS offices in the event its operations are threatened,” the filing continues. “Jones’s statements are concerning for a number of reasons, but most notably, they undermine the ability of a trustee to carry out any liquidation of Jones’s estate that involves his divestiture from FSS, as well as creditors’ ability to exercise their state law rights to enforce their claims.”Relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting are asking a bankruptcy judge to liquidate Alex Jones’ media company, rather than allow him to reorganize the business, as they seek to collect $1.5 billion in lawsuit rulings against him.
