Bankruptcy Judge Directs That Infowars’ Alex Jones’ Personal Assets Be Liquidated

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Though there are some exemptions, personal assets of infamous far-right media figure Alex Jones will now be liquidated as he faces a still looming volley of financial obligations from the outcomes of multiple defamation cases that accused him of perpetrating egregious conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.

The central theory at issue is the extreme contention that the shooting did not happen as reported and was instead effectively staged, with the accompanying explanation that the situation was meant to advance the cause of gun control. Needless to say, there is not and has never been any real-world evidence indicating that the tragedy did not happen as described in reports and by individuals who lived through it, but individuals connected to the tragedy have faced extensive harassment as that conspiracy theory spread.

Jones and his company Free Speech Systems were both mired in separate bankruptcy proceedings, and bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez actually dismissed the bankruptcy case on the company side, which tees up opportunities for those to whom it owes money to pursue payment in other courts.

Lopez ultimately “approved converting Jones’ proposed personal bankruptcy reorganization to a liquidation,” Associated Press journalists explained. “But Lopez threw out the case of his company, Austin, Texas-based Free Speech Systems.”

It appears that Jones’ personal control of Infowars, his longstanding, extreme-right media platform, is gone, with those reins given to a trustee who will be handling the process of liquidating Jones’ personal assets. The Associated Press characterized the near future of the entity as unclear.

Jones’ massive financial penalties were teed up by default after he failed to comply with discovery obligations in multiple cases against him on related grounds. Discovery refers to the routine, pre-trial process in which involved parties produce material documentation related to the proceedings, allowing for a more effective preparatory process for future arguments. It’s similar to what befell Trump ally Rudy Giuliani in his defamation case from former election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.