Alex Jones liable for damages over Sandy Hook shooting claims, judge rules
Mon 15 Nov 2021 19.03 GMT
The conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was found liable on Monday for damages in lawsuits brought by parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, over Jones’s claim the massacre was a hoax.
Twenty first-grade children, aged five and six, and six adults were killed in the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.
The 20-year-old gunman killed his mother before the shooting and killed himself as police arrived at the school.
The shooting was portrayed on Jones’s Infowars show as a hoax involving actors, aimed at increasing gun control. Jones has since acknowledged the shooting did occur.
Families of victims said they have been subjected to harassment and death threats from Jones’s followers because of the hoax conspiracy broadcast on Infowars. They sued Jones and his companies in courts in Connecticut and Texas, for defamation and infliction of emotional distress.
To really get the last laugh, they need to start actually receiving money from this creep.
Re: Alex Jones
Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2022 10:12 pm
by weatheriscool
Sure, I think he is extreme and probably spreads disinformation from time to time. But any free, fair and healthy democracy should have people willing to question things and be willing to do so even if it makes the majority angry.
Re: Alex Jones
Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2022 10:38 pm
by caltrek
weatheriscool wrote: ↑Thu Nov 10, 2022 10:12 pm
Sure, I think he is extreme and probably spreads disinformation from time to time. But any free, fair and healthy democracy should have people willing to question things and be willing to do so even if it makes the majority angry.
It is not that he "spread disinformation." It is that he libeled and slandered individuals who were already victims of a horrendous act. In conjunction with the threatening actions of right-wing nut cases, this did much to further immiserate their lives and suffering. He did this with a reckless disregard for the truth and for the well being of these victims
If he wants to exercise his "free speech" in that manner, fine. Still, he should not be rewarded with one penny of profit for this shameful behavior.
Re: Alex Jones
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2022 7:17 pm
by wjfox
Alex Jones files for bankruptcy after Sandy Hook verdict
2 hours ago
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has filed for personal bankruptcy after he was ordered to pay almost $1.5bn (£1.2bn) for falsely claiming a 2012 school shooting was a hoax.
Jones was ordered to pay the damages to the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting following a series of defamation trials earlier this year.
The most notable came in October when a jury ordered him to pay almost $1bn following a trial in Connecticut.
Jones has not commented on the filing.
The court documents - which were filed in Houston, Texas on Friday - say the Infowars host has between $1m and $10m of assets and between $1bn and $10bn of debt.
Alex Jones: Conspiracy theorist returns to X after Elon Musk poll
4 hours ago
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has had his account on X - formerly Twitter - reinstated by Elon Musk.
Musk asked users to vote in a poll whether or not to lift a Jones ban pre-dating his ownership of the platform, signalling he would honour the result.
Around 70% of roughly two million respondents voted to lift the ban.
Jones is most notorious for falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, in which 20 children and six adults died, was "staged".
He was ordered to pay $1.5bn (£1.32bn) in damages to family members of the victims, after courts found he had caused them to be subjected to harassment and death threats with his false claims.
Alex Jones agrees to liquidate his assets to pay Sandy Hook families, in move that would end his ownership of Infowars
Published 9:46 PM EDT, Thu June 6, 2024
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Thursday moved to liquidate his personal assets, agreeing to demands from the families of Sandy Hook victims whom he owes more than $1.5 billion in damages over his lies about the 2012 school massacre.
The seismic move paves the way for a future in which Jones no longer owns Infowars, the influential conspiracy empire he founded in the late 1990s. Over the years, Jones has not only used the media company to poison the public discourse with vile lies and conspiracy theories, but also to enrich himself to the tune of millions of dollars.
Prior to Thursday, Jones had resisted converting his personal bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 liquidation. But facing mounting legal pressure, he reversed course and caved to the demands of the Sandy Hook families, who have still not seen a penny from Jones since juries in Connecticut and Texas found him liable in 2022 for defamation and emotional distress. His lawyers said in a filing that there was “no reasonable prospect for a successful reorganization” and that continuing down the path would only result in additional expenses incurred by Jones.
The legal maneuver ultimately “means [Jones’] ownership in Free Speech Systems is going to get sold,” Avi Moshenberg, an attorney who represents some of the Sandy Hook families, told CNN on Thursday night, referencing the parent company of Infowars.
“Converting the case to Chapter 7 will hasten the end of these bankruptcies and facilitate the liquidation of Jones’s assets, which is the same reason we have moved to convert his company’s case to Chapter 7,” Chris Mattei, another attorney representing Sandy Hook families, told CNN.
Satirical news publication The Onion has bought Infowars, the media organisation headed by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, for an undisclosed price at a court-ordered auction.
The Onion said that the bid was secured with the backing of families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, who won a $1.5bn (£1.18bn) defamation lawsuit against Jones for spreading false rumours about the massacre.
A judge in Texas ordered the auction in September, and various groups – both Jones’s allies and detractors – had suggested they would bid for the company.
Jones founded Infowars in 1999. He has vowed to continue broadcasting using a different platform.
In a rambling video message posted on Thursday morning, Jones called the takeover a “total attack on free speech”.
wjfox wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 7:13 pmThe Onion buys Alex Jones's Infowars at auction
14 November 2024, 14:47 GMT
Satirical news publication The Onion has bought Infowars, the media organisation headed by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, for an undisclosed price at a court-ordered auction.
The Onion said that the bid was secured with the backing of families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, who won a $1.5bn (£1.18bn) defamation lawsuit against Jones for spreading false rumours about the massacre.
A judge in Texas ordered the auction in September, and various groups – both Jones’s allies and detractors – had suggested they would bid for the company.
Jones founded Infowars in 1999. He has vowed to continue broadcasting using a different platform.
In a rambling video message posted on Thursday morning, Jones called the takeover a “total attack on free speech”.
(Onion CEO Ben) Collins had said previously that the plan was to relaunch Infowars as a satirized version of itself in January.
More from that article:
Alex Jones Is Trying to Halt the Sale of Infowars. Elon Musk’s X Just Got Involved in the Case by Anna Merlan
November 16, 2024
Introduction:
(Mother Jones) On Thursday afternoon, a federal bankruptcy judge in Texas ordered an evidentiary hearing to review the auction process that resulted in Infowars being sold to satire site the Onion, saying he wanted to ensure the “process and transparency” of the sale.
Infowars’ founder, the conspiracy mega-entrepreneur Alex Jones, has unsurprisingly declared that the auction process was “rigged” and vowed that the review process will return the site to him, while the Onion’s CEO told Mother Jones and other news outlets that the sale is proceeding. For reasons that no one has yet explained, attorneys for X, formerly known as Twitter, the social media giant now owned by Elon Musk, entered an appearance during the hearing and asked to be included on any future communications about the case.
“I was told Elon is going to be very involved in this,” Jones said during a live broadcast on X. After Infowars was seized and the site shut down, Jones promptly began operating under the name and branding of a new venture, dubbed the Alex Jones Network, which streams on X. Jones noted that lawyers for X were present at the hearing, adding, somewhat mysteriously, “The cavalry is here. Trump is pissed.” (He later elaborated that “Trump knows I’m one of his biggest defenders.”)
An attorney who entered an appearance for X didn’t respond to a request for comment; nor did X’s press office. Onion CEO Ben Collins, previously a journalist at NBC News covering disinformation, told Mother Jones on Friday morning, “We won the bid. The idea that he was just going to walk away from this gracefully without doing this sort of thing is funny in itself.” In a statement reprinted by Variety and other outlets, Collins said that the sale is “currently underway, pending standard processes.”
As this odd situation played out, however, Infowars’ website came back online on Friday afternoon; soon after, Jones and his staff had also returned to Infowars‘ studios. Throughout Friday and Saturday morning, the site was full of stories preemptively declaring Jones’ victory over the Onion.
Judge rejects sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars to The Onion in dispute over bankruptcy auction
December 11, 2024
A federal judge on Tuesday night rejected the auction sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars to The Onion satirical news outlet, criticizing the bidding process as flawed and the amount of money that families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting stood to receive.
The Onion had been named the winning bidder on Nov. 14 over a company affiliated with Jones, whose conspiracy theory platform was put up for sale as part of his bankruptcy case stemming from the nearly $1.5 billion that courts have ordered him to pay over falsely calling one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history a hoax.
The decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez of Houston to not approve the sale means Jones can stay at his Infowars headquarters in Austin, Texas. The Onion had planned to kick Jones out and relaunch Infowars in January as a parody.
“We are deeply disappointed in today’s decision, but The Onion will continue to seek a resolution that helps the Sandy Hook families receive a positive outcome for the horror they endured,” Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, posted on social media late Tuesday.
Lopez cited problems — but no wrongdoing — with the auction process. He said he did not want another auction and left it up to the trustee who oversaw the auction to determine the next steps.
Alex jones should have done comedy. He is kind of funny.
Re: Alex Jones
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2026 12:33 pm
by wjfox
The Onion launches new effort to turn Infowars into parody website
3 hours ago
US satirical publication The Onion has proposed a new plan to take over Infowars, the media company run by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The Onion's proposal, which requires approval from a judge, would involve a licensing arrangement that would allow it to publish its own parody content on Infowars' platforms.
A previous attempt by The Onion to buy Infowars outright was rejected by another judge. Jones has reportedly said he will also resist the new effort.
Infowars faces liquidation after families of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 won a legal case worth hundreds of millions of dollars against Jones for spreading false claims about the 2012 massacre.
At one point Jones called the attack in Connecticut, which killed 26 people, "a giant hoax". In 2015 he said: "Sandy Hook is a synthetic, completely fake with actors, in my view, manufactured."
