Far-right American conspirator Alex Jones, who has been the subject of several civil lawsuits brought by the parents of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, has declared his site, Infowars, bankrupt, according to a court document.
This placement under the protection of the bankruptcy law, also called “Chapter 11”, should make it possible to freeze the proceedings before the civil courts while preparing recovery plans for the companies concerned, which can continue to be operational.
“Alex Jones is just trying to delay the inevitable: a public trial in which he will be held accountable for his profit-driven campaign of lies against the Sandy Hook families who filed this lawsuit,” responded Chris Mattei, the lawyer for five families of victims and an FBI agent who brought charges against Alex Jones in a court in Waterbury.
A known figure on the far right and follower of several conspiracy theories, the founder of Infowars has been sued for several years by parents of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newton (Connecticut): he had shocked the America, for claiming that the massacre was just a staged show by opponents of guns.
The killings left 26 dead, including 20 children and 6 adults, in 2012.
The plaintiff parents had attacked Alex Jones by summoning him to present accounting documents attesting that he had earned millions of dollars by spreading such misinformation. He has since publicly acknowledged that the killing of children was real.
Aged 48, Alex Jones is being sued in courts in Texas and Connecticut, where he suffered several legal setbacks. In November, a judge in Connecticut ruled that he was civilly liable and could be subject to the payment of damages. In this case, a trial is scheduled for September.
The declaration of bankruptcy, made to a Texas bankruptcy court, also concerns the companies of Alexander (his full name) Jones IWHealth and Prison Planet TV.
Banned by Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in particular, the controversial host is still present on the Infowars site, which also promotes nutritional supplements.
Supporter of Donald Trump, he was also present at the January 6, 2021 rally in Washington, which resulted in the violent assault on the Capitol by supporters of the former Republican president.