Left: Infowars founder Alex Jones appears in court during Sandy Hook defamation damages trial in 2022. (Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool, File). Right: White roses with the faces of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are attached to a telephone pole near the school. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
The families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre victims are asking a federal bankruptcy court to liquidate conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' far-right media company to help him pay out the $1.5 billion judgment levied against him for his repeated defamatory statements about the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, including his false claim that the tragedy was a "giant hoax."
In an emergency motion filed Sunday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, the families implored the presiding judge to order Free Speech Systems LLC, the parent company to Infowars, to sell off its assets and put the proceeds toward paying out the families he defamed.
The families argued that Free Speech Systems has "no hope" of coming up with a reorganization plan and has "failed to demonstrate any hope of beginning to satisfy the Connecticut Families' claims."
The filing specifically points to public comments Jones made over the weekend on an episode of his radio show/podcast titled "Emergency Broadcast," in which he stated that he believed the case against Free Speech Systems would be dismissed, and that he would "employ whatever means necessary" to regain full control of the company.
"Jones made clear that he will not 'play along' with others' plans after he takes 'control' back of (Free Speech Systems), and even threatened to blockade the (Free Speech Systems) offices in the event its operations are threatened," the filing states. "Jones's statements are concerning for a number of reasons, but most notably, they undermine the ability of a trustee to carry out any liquidation of Jones's estate that involves his divestiture from (Free Speech Systems), as well as creditors' ability to exercise their state law rights to enforce their claims. Jones's threats to undermine this Court's orders should not be condoned."
Jones, who appeared to cry several times during the episode that aired Saturday, also claimed that he was the victim in the ordeal, and that the families of the deceased elementary school children were the ones who "hate" children.
"There's really no avenue out of this. I'm kind of in the bunker here. And don't worry. I'll come back. The enemy can't help but do this attack," he said. "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."
Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who served under Donald Trump, joined Jones during the episode. Bannon, who has been sentenced to four months in prison after being convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress, and Jones discussed the prospect of having Jones' supporters blockade his company's building.
"They could literally lock us up in the next few days," Jones told Bannon, then asked, "What is your advice to Infowars and our crew?"
"If you can't move and to do a pirate version of this someplace then let's get people down there and surround the building," Bannon responded. "Make them come through a chain of patriots."
"That's what I'm going to do. Our location has been somewhat secret, but I agree with you," Jones said. "We need to surround the building and just make a big issue out of this."
Should the proposed order be granted by the presiding judge, Jones would have to liquidate most of his personal property, other than those exempt from bankruptcy proceedings, such as his home and personal vehicle, among other things.
A hearing in the case regarding Free Speech Systems' finances was scheduled to take place on Monday.
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