Alex Jones Ordered To Sell His Right-Wing Website ‘Infowars’ To Pay $1 Billion Judgement To Sandy Hook Families

An order expected to be approved by a federal judge, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars media platform and its assets will be sold to pay the $1 billion he owes to relatives of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

The Sandy Hook shooting, which took place in 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, killed six educators and 20 first graders.

In a court hearing on Tuesday, Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said he would approve auctions to start in November, after he ensures that the trustee who oversees Jones’ own bankruptcy case controls all the assets of the Infowars parent company, Free Speech Systems. The company is owned in full by Jones.

In 2022, Sandy Hooks families won $1.5 billion in defamation and emotional distress lawsuits against Jones, a hard-right conspiracy theorist who falsely claimed that the shooting was a “hoax” carried out by “crisis actors” promote passage of more gun legislation laws. 

In two civil trials, parents and children of the Sandy Hook victims testified that due to Jones’ comments, they had been harassed, threatened and traumatized by Jones’ supporters, many of whom confronted the families with claims that the shooting never happened.

Jones’ assets will be sold bit-by-bit in auctions this fall to pay creditors, though his house, social media accounts, and other exempt property, will not be auctioned. The Sandy Hook families want Jones to lose his social media accounts, a movement for which Christopher Murray, the trustee overseeing Jones’ bankruptcy case, stated he may soon seek court approval.

Jones has appealed the jury verdicts on the grounds of free speech rights. He also argued that the families hadn’t supplied sufficient evidence that there was any connection between his comments, and the threats and harassment relatives of the shooting victims received. However, since the incident, Jones has acknowledged that the shooting took place.

Jones has vowed to continue to advocate for himself through other platforms, such as his social media accounts and possibly a new website. He also proposed that his fans buy the Infowars assets, which would subsequently allow him to continue to host his show as an employee.