Alex Jones Puts Company Behind Infowars Empire Into Bankruptcy

AUSTIN, Texas — Facing a potential $150 million judgment and two more damages trials for defaming the families of people killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, the conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones on Friday put his Infowars empire into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Last year, Mr. Jones lost four defamation lawsuits filed by the families of 10 people killed in the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at the elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Soon after the shooting, he began spreading the bogus theory that the shooting was staged by the government as a pretext for confiscating Americans’ firearms, and that the families were complicit in the plot. The families have suffered years of torment from people who believe those false claims.

Judges in Texas and Connecticut ruled 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 son Jesse Lewis, 6, died in the massacre, have sought $150 million in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages. Mr. Jones and a sidekick, Owen Shroyer, implied on Infowars that Mr. Heslin’s recollection of holding his son soon after his murder was a lie.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/30/business/alex-jones-infowars-bankruptcy.html