A Texas judge has ruled that Infowars host Alex Jones cannot use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying more than $1.1 billion to families who sued over his conspiracy theories that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.
The decision is another significant defeat for Jones in the wake of juries in Texas and Connecticut punishing him over spreading falsehoods about the nation's deadliest school shooting.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Lopez of Houston issued the ruling Thursday.
Jones filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year and more recent financial documents submitted by his attorneys put his personal net worth around $14 million.
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But Lopez ruled that those protections do not apply over findings of “willful and malicious” conduct.
“The families are pleased with the Court’s ruling that Jones’ malicious conduct will find no safe harbor in the bankruptcy court," said Christopher Mattei, a Connecticut lawyer for the families. “As a result, Jones will continue to be accountable for his actions into the future regardless of his claimed bankruptcy.”
After 26 people were killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, Jones made a false conspiracy theory a centerpiece of his programming on his flagship Infowars show. He told his audience last year he was “officially out of money” and has asked them to shop on his Infowars website to help keep him on the air.
But Jones’ personal spending topped $93,000 in July alone, including thousands of dollars on meals and entertainment, according to his monthly financial reports in the bankruptcy case. The spending stuck a nerve with Sandy Hook families as they have yet to collect any of the money that juries awarded them.
Sandy Hook families won nearly $1.5 billion in judgments against Jones last year in lawsuits over the repeated promotion of a false theory that the school shooting ever happened.
The amount of money Jones owes Sandy Hook families could grow even larger. Another lawsuit is pending in Texas, brought by the parents of 6-year-old Noah Pozner, one of the children slain in the attack. A trial date has not yet been set.
Relatives of the victims testified at the trials about being harassed and threatened by Jones’ believers, who sent threats and even confronted the grieving families in person, accusing them of being “crisis actors” whose children never existed.
NBC Connecticut spoke to the families’ lead attorney Friday, Chris Mattei, on his reaction to the decision. He said that while it was a long process, the families are grateful and plan to get every cent from Jones.
“He owes that money, and he’s gonna pay every penny he has,” Mattei said. “Alex Jones spent 10 years…10 years profiting from and spreading the lie that Sandy Hook didn’t happen. That there were no children who were murdered, and that the families left behind were actors.”
In a video response on his website, Jones said the money doesn’t exist, therefore he can’t pay. Jones’ attorney did not respond to NBC Connecticut’s request for comment.
“We’re going to pursue him, and whatever he has,” Mattei continued. “Whether he stays on the air to try to make money or if he has to go make money mowing lawns, that money’s gonna end up with the families, and they deserve it.”
