Dietrich Knauth
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Families of Sandy Hook massacre victims claimed victory in Alex Jones’ bankruptcy case on Friday, accepting the conspiracy theorist’s offer to sell his assets, including InfoWars, to partially pay them off judgments for his lies about the 2012 events. . School shooting in the USA.
Jones, who filed for bankruptcy protection in the US 17 months ago, has abandoned efforts to negotiate a bankruptcy deal that would reduce the $1.5 billion he owes to relatives of 20 students and six staff members killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school. Sandy Hook. in Newtown, Connecticut.
Instead, Jones decided this week to proceed with a court-supervised liquidation of his assets.
Chris Mattei, an attorney for the Sandy Hook families, said Friday that Jones’ turn to eliminate Chapter 7 was a moment of “meaningful accountability” for his repeated lies, pushing the network to the “brink of justice.”
“Alex Jones hurt so many people,” Mattei said. “Connecticut families have fought for years to bring him to justice at all costs and at great personal risk.”
Judges in Texas and Connecticut ordered Jones to pay $1.5 billion to Sandy Hook families after Jones claimed for years that the school killings were staged by actors as part of a government plot to confiscate guns from Americans. Jones has since admitted the shooting happened.
Bankruptcy can be used to pay off debts and judgments, but the judge hearing Jones’ case ruled in October that most defamation convictions cannot be legally overturned because they are the result of “intentional and malicious harm” caused by Jones. Jones’ decision to pursue a Chapter 7 liquidation does not change this decision.
Jones asked the Sandy Hook families to vote on a bankruptcy settlement that would have netted them $55 million, but they unanimously rejected the deal and came up with their own proposal to sell his assets.
In a court filing Friday, the families said they would abandon their plan and allow Jones to convert his case to outright liquidation.
Jones said the libel rulings far exceeded the total value of his assets.
Although liquidation would only bring in a portion of the money he owes the families, they opposed his proposal because it would allow him to control both InfoWars and his wealth for years while limiting the total amount he would pay toward the lawsuit. slander.
A court-supervised liquidation would allow the families to benefit from the immediate sale of assets while maintaining their claim to Jones’ assets should he accumulate wealth in the future.
On his InfoWars website, Jones said Tuesday on “The Alex Jones Show” that he expected to lose everything except his home in bankruptcy, but he said he would find a way to continue broadcasting and would “work for free” rather than ” work for free.” silenced” by court decisions.
Lawyers for Jones and the Sandy Hook families did not immediately respond to questions about how Jones would address remaining legal debts after his assets are sold in bankruptcy.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston, Texas, will consider Jones’ request to convert his case to Chapter 7 liquidation at a hearing on June 14.