U.S. District Judge Christopher Lopez on Friday dismissed the proposed liquidation of Alex Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems, the parent company of InfoWars. The Texas bankruptcy judge deemed the denial of the bankruptcy plan as being in the best interest of the creditors.
Judge Lopez’s ruling stands in contrast to an earlier decision where he approved the liquidation of Mr. Jones’ personal assets.
“The right call is to dismiss this case,” Judge Lopez said in a detailed decision from the bench. “I think it needed to happen. I wish I would’ve picked a better day,” he added, referencing the proximity of his decision to Father’s Day.
The judgment provides a nuanced outcome for both Mr. Jones and some of the Sandy Hook families involved in the litigation. It underscores a divide among the families: those involved in the Texas lawsuit supported the decision, as it allows them to pursue financial claims sooner, while those involved in the Connecticut lawsuit preferred a resolution that would have shut down InfoWars, even if it meant settling for less money.
The ruling enables Mr. Jones to continue broadcasting on InfoWars while the families pursue the substantial defamation damages awarded to them.
Attorney Chris Mattei, representing the families, declared it “a good day,” saying in a media statement: “Alex Jones has lost ownership of InfoWars, the corrupt business he has used for years to attack the Connecticut families and so many others. The Court authorized us to move immediately to collect against all InfoWars assets, and we intend to do exactly that.”
Mr. Lopez said that the case is far from over, with decisions regarding the future of InfoWars now lying in the hands of the interim and permanent trustees in Mr. Jones’ personal case.
“Those trustees will make decisions about where things go,” he said. “We’re not leaving things into the wind here.”
As a result of the ruling, many of Mr. Jones’s personal assets will be sold off. However, his primary home in the Austin area and some other belongings are exempt from bankruptcy liquidation. Mr. Jones has already begun selling assets, including a Texas ranch valued at about $2.8 million and a gun collection, to help pay off his debts.
Mr. Jones and Free Speech Systems filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 after relatives of many victims of the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, won lawsuit judgments of more than $1.4 billion in Connecticut and $49 million in Texas against Mr. Jones and his company. These judgments are far more than the less than $5 million that, according to court documents, Mr. Jones’ personal assets are valued at.
Prior to the judge’s ruling on Friday, Mr. Jones told reporters outside the courthouse that it’s “probably the end of InfoWars here very, very soon,” but he framed it as the “beginning of my fight against tyranny.”
He said, “I didn’t kill those kids,” referring to the mass shooting by Adam Lanza. “I barely ever talked about them, I covered the internet questioning the shooting,” he said. “Now they are literally trying to take over my social media.”
The families of several Sandy Hook victims had sued Mr. Jones and won the Texas and Connecticut trials, arguing that his remarks and claims made by his viewers traumatized them. During the trials, the families testified about being harassed and targeted by his followers, who claimed the shooting never occurred.
Mr. Jones has maintained that he should not have to pay the families, although he testified in 2022 that his comments about the shooting were “absolutely irresponsible” and acknowledged that the shooting was real. He has argued that the lawsuit against him was an attempt to silence him and violated his constitutional rights.
The Epoch Times contacted Mr. Mattei, an attorney for the families in the Connecticut case, for comment on June 14.
