Infowars host Alex Jones has asked a US court to sell off his assets to help meet a $1.5bn defamation judgment over his claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was faked. In a court filing, Jones dropped his petition for bankruptcy protection and requested the conversion of his case into a Chapter 7 liquidation.
If approved by a Texas court, the move could end Jones’s ownership of Infowars, the rightwing platform he founded in the late 1990s. Jones used the site to broadcast conspiracy theories and market herbal supplements, enriching himself by millions of dollars.
Lawyers for Jones told the bankruptcy court on Thursday that “there is no reasonable prospect of a successful reorganization” of his debts, and that liquidation would be a more streamlined procedure for selling his assets under a court-appointed trustee. The Sandy Hook families have not yet received any payment from the judgment.
Under liquidation, the families are less likely to see any money, but Jones would be forced to sell most of what he owns, including his company and its assets, though he could keep his home and personal belongings. In a recent broadcast, Jones claimed there was a conspiracy against him and expected Infowars to shut down within months.
Jones and his company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after losing defamation lawsuits brought by victims’ families in Texas and Connecticut. At trial, family members said they had been harassed by Jones’s followers. Jones later apologised and acknowledged the shooting occurred.
