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WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: Alex Jones, the founder of right-wing media group Infowars, addresses a crowd of pro-Trump protesters after they storm the grounds of the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol earlier, breaking windows and clashing with police officers. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
The right-wing website InfoWars, which is owned by US radio host Alex Jones, has filed for bankruptcy. The action comes as he faces defamation lawsuits filed by the relatives of those slain in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in 2012.
Jones has been forced to pay damages in the claims after falsely claiming the incident was a fabrication. His choice to file for bankruptcy protection from creditors will hamper such attempts.
Alex Jones' Infowars Files For Bankruptcy
In the United States, declaring bankruptcy allows businesses to continue operating while negotiating debt settlements with the help of the court. Other lawsuits are placed on hold.
The trouble for the radio presenter and conspiracy theorist stems from his incorrect assertions regarding the 2012 Connecticut school shooting, which was one of the deadliest in US history. He stated repeatedly that the tragedy, which killed twenty children and six adults, was staged by actors and the mainstream media to press for gun regulation, according to BBC.
In three different cases, relatives of those slain at Sandy Hook have claimed that his falsehoods profited his company, including InfoWars, while also causing them to be harassed by his supporters.
Last year, they won the cases after Jones refuted the allegations but failed to submit proof in court, such as financial documents. Juries were expected to begin assessing how much he owes the families this month.
He had offered $120,000 to each of the 13 persons included in the cases, but they turned him down last month.
Lawyer: Alex Jones Will Still Likely to Pay Victims' Families
Jones was fined $75,000 for failing to attend for a deposition in a defamation case, but the money was returned to him last week after Jones showed up, as per ABC7 Chicago. Jones is accused of concealing millions of dollars in assets in a new lawsuit, but a counsel for Jones has dismissed the claim as "ridiculous."
Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, was killed in the Newtown school shooting, said he didn't know how Jones' bankruptcy would influence his defamation action against him in Texas, where a trial on how much money Jones should pay the families' damages is slated to begin next week.
According to Reuters, Jones filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Sunday. In addition to InfoWars, two other Jones-related businesses, IWHealth and Prison Planet TV, have also declared bankruptcy. On Monday, Jones verified the news on his online show.
In 2018, the relatives of the victims began pursuing lawsuits against Jones, about the same time that his YouTube channel, which had over 2 million followers, was blocked. Last October, a Connecticut court ruled in favor of the family, as did a Texas judge in two additional lawsuits.
A lawsuit filed by one of the families earlier this month accused Jones of concealing assets by withdrawing $18 million from his company's accounts beginning in 2018, when he began dealing with legal matters. It also accused Jones of misrepresenting that his firm owed $54 million in debt to another company that is "directly or indirectly" owned by Jones, according to the lawsuit.
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