Families of victims of the Sandy Hook massacre began taking control of Alex Jones’ social media accounts on Thursday, as a bankruptcy case over his estate went into liquidation.
Jones, who was liable for nearly $1.5 billion in damages for his false claims that the 2012 massacre was somehow faked, tried to avoid losing all of his assets in the bankruptcy proceedings.
The families and Jones reached an agreement last week that his assets should be liquidated, including his participation in the InfoWars web program, which Jones used to spread false conspiracies. In a court filing filed Thursday, the families say Jones’ social media accounts should also be included in the settlement to prevent him from using them to create future businesses.
The families argued that Jones’ X account, with 2.3 million followers, “is no different than a customer list of any other company in liquidation.”
A Houston judge is expected to move Jones’ case to Chapter 7 bankruptcy at a hearing on Friday, where the motion regarding the social media accounts will be heard. A Chapter 7 judgment ensures that families can continue to collect on their assets and income until the debt is paid, likely for the rest of Jones’ life.
Jones estimated in court records that he less than US$12 million in assets, which means he will have a huge legal debt even after Infowars and his other assets are sold.
The massacre killed 22 children and six school staff in 2012. Jones has repeatedly claimed that the dead students were actors and that the massacre was a set-up, leading to harassment against the families.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
