(Headline USA) After a weekend in which Infowars host Alex Jones warned that his media company faced an imminent shutdown by the federal government because of his bankruptcy cases, he agreed Thursday to liquidate his assets to pay the monstrous $1.5 billion judgment against him from the dubious Sandy Hook litigation.
Jones’s attorneys reportedly said in a Thursday court filing that he believes “there is no reasonable prospect of a successful reorganization” of his debts.
Both Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, filed for bankruptcy reorganization after he lost two lawsuits and was ordered to pay $1.5 billion to relatives of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. They sued Jones for calling the shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, a hoax, claiming defamation and infliction of emotional distress.
Jones went on his web and radio show over the weekend with “emergency broadcasts” claiming Free Speech Systems, including his Infowars broadcasts, were going to be shut down at any minute by the federal government and bankruptcy system. That did not happen.
At one point, he urged his followers to form a human chain around his studio in Austin, Texas, to protect it.
On Saturday, Jones was defiant, saying “At the end of the day, we’re going to beat these people. I’m not trying to be dramatic here, but it’s been a hard fight. These people hate our children.”
The broadcasts were in response to apparent disputes between Jones, a chief restructuring officer appointed by the bankruptcy court to oversee Jones’ company and another company that supplies the nutritional supplements Jones sells on his shows, according to lawyers in the bankruptcy cases. Jones made disparaging comments about the restructuring officer over the weekend, one of the lawyers said.
Liquidation could mean that Jones would have to sell most of what he owns, including his company and its assets, but could keep his home and other personal belongings that are exempt from bankruptcy liquidation.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
