Bankruptcy Won’t Protect Alex Jones From $1.1 Billion owed to Sandy Hook Families

Federal Judge Claudia Lopez issued her ruling Thursday and determined that bankruptcy proceedings cannot protect conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from paying over $1.1 billion owed to families of Sandy Hook victims. Jones faces state court judgments as well as damages awarded from defamation cases against him, with one jury awarding parents of two children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School more than $50 million from their settlement while in Texas another verdict came down against him for calling it all an elaborate hoax.

At the Connecticut trial, relatives of some 26 victims and an FBI agent who responded to the massacre described being threatened and harassed by Jones supporters who accused them of being crisis actors or fabricating accounts of their loved ones’ deaths. Some family members reported being told by Jones followers they no longer belonged in America and forced out of their homes, forcing some outright while Jones claimed his case had been “lost altogether,” appealing it. Lopez noted her responsibility to uphold law.

Judge overseeing both cases recently issued a ruling to bar Jones from transferring or spending any of his assets for anything other than daily living expenses, excluding taxes. She also prohibited him from leaving the country to hide money he might try to spend illegally. Lawyers representing Sandy Hook families hope this court’s ruling sends a strong signal to other conspiracy theorists that spreading lies and harming people can have lasting repercussions.

At his appearance before Judge Maya Guerra Gamble on Wednesday, Jones maintained a calm demeanor but often appeared uncomfortable during a back-and-forth with her. His nerves became evident while under questioning by plaintiff’s attorney Mark Bankston who played up to Jones like Perry Mason from TV legal drama Perry Mason – making statements from witnesses admit their wrongdoing under pressure on the witness stand. Jones complained to Bankston for using him for their “Perry Mason moment”, yet refused to apologize for making mockery of his judiciary system and those murdered at Sandy Hook.

After his verdict was issued, Jones decried it as an attack on free speech rights and pledged to appeal the case. Additionally, he claimed he didn’t have enough money to cover such an enormous award; according to an estimate by forensic economists that Free Speech Systems is worth $270 million but this week on Infowars Jones said only had several hundred thousand in savings.

He and his company filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas, with a judge overseeing that case determining what percentage, if any, of their judgment against Jones should go to Sandy Hook families. A lawyer for those families named Christopher Mattei hopes bankruptcy proceedings will make clear to Jones that full verdicts must be paid.