In a move that probably has Infowars fans frantically searching for secret deep-state bankruptcy conspiracies, a federal judge has ordered Alex Jones to liquidate his personal assets to begin paying a staggering $1.5 billion owed to families of Sandy Hook victims. The decision, delivered in a Texas courtroom with all the subtlety of a gavel to the face, comes after years of Jones tirelessly insisting that a horrific school shooting was a staged illusion worthy of magicians but certainly not legal consequences.
However, before anyone starts picturing FBI agents repossessing Jones’s collection of protein powders and gold bullion, the ruling notably spares his business interests which include Infowars parent company Free Speech Systems. The company remains under bankruptcy protection which, while sounding quite corporate and procedural, is really just code for “we’re not done arguing about this in court yet.” So while Jones himself may soon be cashing in his designer belt buckles for something a little more off-the-rack, his conspiracy empire continues to hum along like an old CB radio blasting static and paranoia.
The ruling allows creditors and families to pick over Jones’s personal assets in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy similar to a legal garage sale where everything must go except the anger and the vitamins. Free Speech Systems, meanwhile, is still under Chapter 11 proceedings which involve reorganizing the business and possibly finding ways to actually pay people back without completely collapsing under the weight of its own absurdity.
The Sandy Hook families have, quite patiently and remarkably, pursued justice across a landscape littered with legal gymnastics, angry internet rants and approximately 12 billion repetitions of the phrase “First Amendment.” Their attorneys now prepare to ask the judge overseeing the reorganization of Free Speech Systems to convert that case into a liquidation too, since, they argue, the company is basically a Jones-shaped shell anyway.
“Alex Jones is not going to stop inflicting pain on these families or promoting lies and conspiracy theories to sow fear and confusion in our country unless he is held to account,” said Christopher Mattei, one of the attorneys representing the Sandy Hook families. “Today is a step in that direction.”
And while Jones still rails on about attacks to his freedoms and broadcasts dire warnings about global cabals between court appearances, the reality is beginning to look less like a rebellious defender of truth and more like a man slowly realizing that shouting into the void may not be a viable long-term business model.
Of course, whether the families will see substantial repayment from the liquidation remains an open question, given that Jones has already maneuvered funds and properties through a complex maze resembling a paranoid fantasy brought to life. Still, they are closer now than ever to eking out justice from a man who spent years convincing his audience that mass tragedy was merely theatre for the deluded masses.
As for Infowars, it limps on like a conspiracy theory that refuses to go gently into that good night, surviving for now like a cockroach with a podcast.
Turns out even in the world of high-octane disinformation, bankruptcy still respects the fine print.