Sandy Hook families agree to Alex Jones' bankruptcy liquidation
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[June 08, 2024]
By Dietrich Knauth
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Families of the Sandy Hook massacre victims claimed
victory in Alex Jones' bankruptcy case on Friday, accepting the
conspiracy theorist's proposal to sell his assets, including InfoWars,
to partly pay legal judgments to them for his lies about the 2012 U.S.
school shooting.
Jones, who filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection 17 months ago, has given
up trying to reach a bankruptcy deal that would reduce the $1.5 billion
that he owes to the relatives of 20 students and six staff members
killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School 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 on Friday
that Jones' pivot to a Chapter 7 liquidation was a moment of "meaningful
accountability" for his repeated lies, pushing the broadcaster to the
"brink of justice."
"Alex Jones has hurt so many people," Mattei said. "The Connecticut
families have fought for years to hold him responsible no matter the
cost and at great personal peril."
Courts in Texas and Connecticut have ordered Jones to pay $1.5 billion
to the Sandy Hook families after Jones claimed for years that the school
killings were staged with actors as part of a government plot to seize
Americans' guns. Jones has since acknowledged that the shootings
occurred.
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. Jones' decision to
pursue a Chapter 7 liquidation doesn't alter that ruling.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jun/08/images/ads/current/library_sda_PROMGRAD_2024.png)
Jones had asked the Sandy Hook families to vote for a bankruptcy
settlement that would have paid them $55 million, but they unanimously
rejected the deal and offered their own proposal for selling his assets.
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![](../images/060824PIX/news_j19.jpg)
Infowars founder Alex Jones arrives to speak to the media after
appearing at his Sandy Hook defamation trial at Connecticut Superior
Court in Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S., October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Mike
Segar/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jun/08/images/ads/current/aeps_lda_013124.png)
The families said in a Friday court filing that they will back down
from their plan and allow Jones to convert his case to a
straightforward liquidation.
Jones has said that the defamation judgments are far larger than the
total value of his assets.
While the liquidation will yield only a fraction of the money he
owes the families, they objected to his proposal because it would
have kept him in control of both InfoWars and his wealth for many
years, while also capping the total amount that he would pay toward
the defamation claims.
The court-supervised liquidation will allow the families to benefit
from immediate asset sales, while keeping their claim on Jones'
assets alive in the event he accrues wealth in the future.
On his InfoWars website, Jones said Tuesday on "The Alex Jones Show"
that he expects to lose everything except for his home in
bankruptcy, but he said he would find a way to continue broadcasting
and would "work for free" rather than be "silenced" by the legal
judgments.
Attorneys for Jones and the Sandy Hook families did not immediately
respond to questions about how Jones would address the lingering
legal debts after his assets are sold off 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 June 14 court hearing.
(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and
Cynthia Osterman)
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