A Texas judge on Friday decided the fate of Infowars host Alex Jones’ personal assets, putting an end to a defamation lawsuit filed by his family against the network over comments he made about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.
The ruling called for the Infowars host’s personal assets to be liquidated to potentially allow compensation to be paid to the families of those affected by the tragedy.
Lawyers told bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez that the personal assets include Jones’ Texas ranch, valued at $2.8 million.
However, Judge Lopez ruled against the liquidation of Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems, which owns the Infowars brand.
Alex Jones speaks to media after a hearing before a bankruptcy judge, Friday, June 14, 2024, as he arrives at a federal courthouse in Houston. The judge ruled on whether Jones’ assets should be liquidated to help pay off $1.5 billion in debt for Jones’ false claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
The victims’ families sued Jones, 50, and his company for defamation for making false statements about the attack, and won damages totaling $1.5 billion, Breitbart News reported.
The liquidation will force Jones to sell off his assets, which include a multimillion-dollar ranch, other real estate, cars, boats and guns. Recent court documents show Jones has a personal net worth of about $8.6 million. according to BBC.
The ruling, handed down in Houston, Texas on Friday, means that Free Speech Systems and Infowars will continue to operate for the time being.
Free Speech Systems employs 44 people and generated nearly $3.2 million in revenue in a recent month, most of it from sales of dietary supplements and other products, according to court documents.
FILE/Lawyers representing families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting speak to media after a jury awarded Alex Jones $965 million in his defamation trial, in Waterbury, Connecticut, Oct. 12, 2022. Jones asked the court on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, for permission to convert his personal bankruptcy reorganization into a liquidation, which would allow him to sell off most of his assets to pay some of the $1.5 billion he owes to the families of the shooting victims. (Associated Press/Brian Woolston, File)
One of the lawyers for the families said they would work quickly to recover damages.
“The court has authorised us to act immediately to seize all of Infowars’ assets and that is exactly what we intend to do,” Christopher Mattei said in a statement on Friday, reported the BBC.
“Alex Jones is neither a martyr nor a victim. He is the perpetrator of the worst defamation in American history.”
