(Houston) A US judge on Friday approved the liquidation of the personal assets of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones so that he can repay the approximately $1.5 billion in compensation he owes to the families of victims of a school shooting, officials said. reported American media.
The owner of the Infowars site had claimed that a killing in 2012 at the Sandy Hook school in Connecticut was only a staged incident. In reality, 20 children and 6 adults were killed.
The conspirator declared personal bankruptcy in 2022 and estimated his assets between one and ten million dollars.
He also filed for bankruptcy at his company, Free Speech Systems, based in Texas.
The judge on Friday allowed Mr Jones to convert his personal bankruptcy into outright liquidation, but has yet to rule on whether his company should also be liquidated, US media reported.
The decision means that many of Mr. Jones’ personal assets – including a Texas ranch worth about $2.8 million – will be sold to help pay debts, but that some assets, such as his home in the Austin, Texas area also are exempt from liquidation.
On his site, Alex Jones warned his supporters of the situation. On Friday, one of the headlines announced: “This could be THE LAST Infowars show!” Do NOT miss it.”
Before entering the courtroom, Alex Jones denounced an “instrumentalization of the judicial system”, adding that his case “is a test case for what is now being done to President Trump, Steve Bannon and others”, recently convicted.
Admitting that this is probably “the end” of Infowars, he nevertheless declared that “it was the beginning of (his) fight against tyranny”.
Alex Jones amassed a fortune by linking his conspiracy site to the sale of dietary supplements and other merchandise.
He notably sold dietary supplements for men as well as testosterone boosters, while declaring that the government was making men more and more feminine or homosexual thanks to chemical pollutants.
He also accused the government of deliberately putting fluoride in drinking water, even though his store sold fluoride-free toothpaste.
A lucrative vein likely to push content creators to continue disseminating untruths, believe disinformation experts.
This illustrates the challenge of combating this fake news, which is shared more quickly and generates more engagement – and more revenue – than verified information.
In the United States, citizens and pro-democracy groups are increasingly using defamation complaints to hold conspiracy theorists to account.
The families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting did not immediately respond to the announcement. They claimed to have been harassed and threatened for several years by Alex Jones’ supporters. Some even reported being threatened with rape or death.