Alex Jones, host of the conspiracy-theory laden webcast Infowars, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as he faces nearly $1.5 billion in court judgements over false theories he spread about the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.
Jones’ bankruptcy filing, in a Houston court, lists $1 billion to $10 billion in liabilities owed to 50 to 99 creditors and $1 million to $10 million in assets.
On November 10, Judge Barbara Bellis ordered Jones to pay an additional $473 million on top of the damages he had already incurred for promoting false Sandy Hook conspiracy theories, bringing the total amount Jones owed to the families of the victims who had sued him to $1.44 billion.
Jones had repeatedly told his millions of listeners that the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, which killed 20 first graders and six adults, was a staged event, damaging the reputations of the victims’ relatives and exposing them to threats.
“The record clearly supports the plaintiffs’ argument that the defendants’ conduct was intentional and malicious, and certain to cause harm by virtue of their infrastructure, ability to spread content, and massive audience including the infowarriors,” the Judge had written in a 45-page ruling.
Soon after, Jones went on his Infowars program to call the ruling “ridiculous” and a “joke” and to say he had “almost nothing” in terms of being able to pay the damages.
An attorney representing Jones in the bankruptcy case did not immediately return a reporter’s request for comment.
