AUSTIN, Texas — Facing a potential $150 million judgment and two other lawsuits for damages for defaming the families of those killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, conspiratorial broadcaster Alex Jones filed its Infowars empire into Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday.
Last year, Mr Jones lost four libel lawsuits brought by the families of 10 people killed in the December 14, 2012, elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Shortly after the shooting, he began spreading the false theory that the shooting was staged by the government as a pretext to confiscate Americans’ guns, and that the families were complicit in the plot. The families have endured years of torment from people who believe these false claims.
Judges in Texas and Connecticut found Mr. Jones liable by default for defying court orders. The losses set the stage for the three jury trials for damages. The first trial began in Austin last week. In it, Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis died in the massacre, sought $150 million in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages. Mr Jones and a sidekick, Owen Shroyer, suggested on Infowars that Mr Heslin’s recollection of detaining his son shortly after his murder was a lie.
On Friday, Travis County District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ordered the trial to continue until the verdict despite the filing for bankruptcy, which would otherwise have forced the litigation to a halt.
Lawyers for the families say filing for bankruptcy is another ploy to delay lawsuits for damages in the two remaining cases: one in Texas won by Lenny Pozner and Véronique De La Rosa, whose son Noah Pozner died in Sandy Hook; and the second won in Connecticut by the families of the eight Sandy Hook victims. The remaining trials were scheduled for September, with jury selection in the Connecticut case due to begin next week.
The Sandy Hook School Massacre
“Just two days before the start of jury selection in Connecticut, Mr. Jones has once again fled like a coward to bankruptcy court in a transparent attempt to delay the confrontation with the families he has spent years hurting,” Chris Mattei, attorney for the Sandy Hook families in the Connecticut case, said in a statement.
“These families,” his statement continued, “have endless patience and remain committed to holding Mr. Jones accountable in a Connecticut court.”
The bankruptcy filing was on behalf of Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars. The petition states that Free Speech Systems has $14 million in assets and $79 million in liabilities. On its list of creditors, the company names several people and companies with legal actions against Mr. Jones and Infowars, including for defamation.
Mr Jones has raised millions from his followers for his legal defense by pleading for their help on his radio show and online. The contributions include an anonymous donation of $8 million in cryptocurrency which Mr Jones said last week he had already spent. Infowars says it spent $15 million in legal fees in the Sandy Hook cases, according to Friday’s filing.
Eric Taube, the Texas attorney who helped create the Infowars network of companies that lawyers for the Sandy Hook families say are key to helping Mr. Jones shield his business from jury verdicts, declined to comment on Saturday.
nytimes Gt