A federal bankruptcy judge on Thursday halted an attempt by the parents of a boy killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to begin collecting some of the $50 million they won in a lawsuit against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones because of his false claims that the massacre was a hoax.
Lawyers for Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis died in the 2012 Connecticut shooting, obtained an order from a state judge in Texas earlier this month allowing them to begin collecting some of the company’s assets. by Jones, Infowars. ‘parent free speech systems. This order came after the company’s judicial recovery failed and its case was dismissed.
But U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston said Thursday that the state judge’s decision conflicts with federal bankruptcy law.
Lopez said a new trustee appointed to oversee the liquidation of Jones’ personal assets now has control of Jones’ ownership of Free Speech Systems. Lopez said the trustee, Christopher Murray, has the authority under federal law to sell the company’s assets and distribute the proceeds equally among all of Jones’ creditors, including other relatives of Sandy Hook victims who were awarded more than US$1.4 billion in a similar process in Connecticut because of Jones’ lies about the shooting.
“I don’t think the state court was really informed of all of these issues,” Lopez said.
Murray plans to shut down Infowarsthe multimillion-dollar livelihood that Jones has built over the past 25 years by selling dietary supplements, survival equipment and other merchandise.
Jones has about $9 million in personal assets, according to the most recent court financial filings. Free Speech Systems has about $6 million in cash on hand and about $1.2 million in inventory, according to recent court testimony.
Bankruptcy attorneys for Jones and his firm did not immediately return messages seeking comment Thursday. Jones said on his Thursday show that while Infowars may no longer exist in two or three months, he will restart broadcasts on another platform that he will have to build from scratch. He also said Lewis and Heslin’s efforts in Texas state court to obtain some of their assets were “illegal.”
Murray filed a motion Sunday asking Lopez to halt Lewis and Heslin’s collection efforts in state court, saying they would interfere with the closure and liquidation of Jones’ company.
Free Speech Systems, based in Jones’ hometown of Austin, Texas, filed for judicial recovery in July 2022, in the midst of the Texas trial that led to the $50 million defamation award for Lewis and Heslin. Jones filed for personal bankruptcy bankruptcy protection in late 2022, after relatives of eight children and adults killed in the shooting won their lawsuit in Connecticut.
On June 14, Lopez converted Jones’ personal bankruptcy recovery case into liquidation, meaning many of your assets will be sold to pay creditors, except your main home and other properties exempt from liquidation. On the same day, Lopez also dismissed the Free Speech Systems bankruptcy case after Jones and the families were unable to agree on a final plan.
The bankruptcies automatically froze the Sandy Hook families’ efforts to collect premiums from state lawsuits. Lawyers for Lewis and Heslin said the dismissal of the Free Speech System case meant they could go back to Texas state court in Austin and ask a judge to order the company to start turning over money and other assets to Lewis and Heslin.
“Our clients are frustrated because they ultimately will not be allowed to exercise their rights in state courts,” said Mark Bankston, attorney for Lewis and Heslin. “It appears this case will remain in limbo, much to Mr. Jones’ delight, while the other group of plaintiffs insists they are entitled to almost all of the recovery.”
Lewis and Heslin are at odds with relatives in the Connecticut lawsuit over how Jones’ bankruptcies should end and how his assets should be sold.
Relatives in the Connecticut case fought the dismissal of Free Speech Systems’ bankruptcy, saying it would lead to a “race” among Sandy Hook families to state courts in Texas and Connecticut to see who could get Jones’ assets first. The Connecticut plaintiffs favored the administrator’s motion to halt collection efforts in Texas.
“Connecticut families have always sought a fair and equitable distribution of the assets of the Free Speech System to all families, and today’s ruling puts us back on that path,” said Christopher Mattei, attorney for the Sandy Hook relatives who sued Jones in Connecticut. .
The shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, killed 20 first graders and six educators. Not all of the victims’ families sued Jones.
Relatives said they were traumatized by Jones’ false conspiracies and the actions of his followers. They testified about being harassed and threatened by Jones believers, some of whom personally confronted the grieving families, saying the shooting never happened and their children never existed. A father said someone threatened to dig up his dead son’s grave.
Jones is appealing the rulings in state courts. He said he now believes the shooting happened, but free speech rights allowed him to say it did not.
