Far-right media personality Alex Jones has filed for bankruptcy protection for his assets after losing defamation lawsuits brought by the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre in Connecticut, which he repeatedly and falsely described as a hoax.
What Happened: According to combined media reports, Jones’ websites Infowars, Infowars Health and Prison Planet TV filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of Texas. In his bankruptcy filing, Jones reported up to $10 million in legal costs stemming from the Sandy Hook lawsuits.
The bankruptcy filing also claimed Jones’ assets were estimated to be between zero dollars and $50,000 while his liabilities ranged between $1 million and $10 million.
Jones had offered a settlement with the Sandy Hook families for $120,000 per plaintiff, which was rejected. Last month, a Connecticut judge found him in civil contempt after refusing to be deposed by the victims’ families under the claim that he was too ill. He later participated in a two-day deposition.
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Why It Happened: Beginning in 2001, Jones carved a media niche for himself as the master spinner of conspiracy theories, using broadcast and online media and his Infowars website to raise provocative and often outrageous considerations on what he insisted were the stories behind current events. At his peak, he amassed millions of followers and an equal number of detractors who found his brand of misinformation dangerous.
The Sandy Hook school massacre resulted in the deaths of 20 children and six educators, but Jones declared the school shooting to be an elaborate hoax staged by what he described as “crisis actors.” The families of the shooting victims said Jones’ misinformation resulted in their being subjected to harassment and death threats, and a volley of lawsuits were filed against Jones in 2018.
Also in 2018, Jones saw his prominence online shrink when his social media accounts were permanently suspended by Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) YouTube.
Jones would later acknowledge the Sandy Hook shootings were not a hoax, but his attempts to have the lawsuits against him dismissed failed. Earlier this month, several of the Sandy Hook families accused Jones of hiding millions of dollars in assets while he was being sued for defamation.
Photo: Alex Jones at a 2018 press conference, courtesy of Jaredlholt / Wikimedia Commons
