Radio host Alex Jones asked a U.S. judge Thursday to convert his bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 liquidation, dropping an effort to settle massive legal judgments related to his comments about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
Reuters reports Jones believes “there is no reasonable prospect of a successful reorganization” of his debts, most of which stem from $1.5 billion awarded in defamation lawsuits, his attorneys said in a court filing.
A Chapter 7 liquidation would not allow Jones to escape paying the legal judgments, but it offers a streamlined procedure for selling his personal assets under the supervision of a court-appointed trustee.
The moves paves the way for a future in which Jones no longer owns Infowars which he founded in the late 1990s.
Courts in Texas and Connecticut have respectively ordered Jones to pay $1.5 billion to the relatives of 20 students and six staff members killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook, the Reuters report notes.
File/Infowars host Alex Jones arrives at the Texas State Capital building on April 18, 2020 in Austin, Texas. The protest followed others across the country in taking to the streets to call for the country to be opened up despite the risk of the COVID-19. (Sergio Flores/Getty Images)
Bankruptcy can be used to wipe out debts and legal judgments, but the judge overseeing Jones’ case ruled in October that most of the defamation verdicts cannot be legally discharged because they resulted from “willful and malicious injury” caused by Jones.
The move comes after Jones warned Saturday that Infowars might be shut down sooner rather than later, as Breitbart News reported.
Jones said, “This is going to be Infowars’ last show, because I learned yesterday that they were going to padlock the door and kick us out last night.”
He added, “We’re going to beat these people. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it’s been a hard fight.”
File/Infowars founder Alex Jones, left, is questioned by plaintiff’s attorney Chris Mattei beside Judge Barbara Bellis, right, during testimony at the Sandy Hook defamation damages trial at Connecticut Superior Court in Waterbury, Conn. Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. (Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool, File)
Jones concluded, “I’ve been targeted for abuse. I was duped by someone. Federal files in secret have claimed that I’m committing crimes. This was untrue, of course.”
The liquidation of Jones’ assets does not mean Infowars will cease to exist, CNN notes.
Several outcomes are possible. The court-appointed trustee could sell the business to another owner, for instance.
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