Judge orders Alex Jones to liquidate personal assets to pay Sandy Hook legal fees

A federal judge in Texas ruled Friday to liquidate Alex Jones’ personal assets as families of victims of the Sandy Hook massacre seek to recover a nearly $1.5 billion fine that forced him to declare bankruptcy.

The judge has not ruled on the bankruptcy case against Jones’ InfoWars media company, meaning the future of the platform is still uncertain. The conservative media host used the platform to repeatedly call the 2012 shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, a hoax.

The families and Jones reached an agreement last week that their assets should be liquidated. Judge Christopher Lopez approved the liquidation on Friday but did not determine the fate of the conservative media site.

This means his personal assets, including his firearms collection and his $2.8 million ranch home, will be sold with the proceeds distributed to the victims’ families. Some assets, including your primary residence, are exempt.

In a court filing filed Thursday, the families also say Jones’ social media accounts should be included in the settlement to prevent him from using them to create future businesses. Lopez also did not comment on the social media accounts.

The families said they plan to pursue all of Jones’ future earnings whether he continues broadcasting InfoWars or not. Jones acknowledged that his show may not survive.

“This is probably the end of Infowars here very, very soon. If not today, in the next few weeks or months,” Jones told reporters outside the courtroom before Friday’s hearing, the Associated Press reported. “But this is just the beginning of my fight against tyranny.”

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 the sale of the media platform and his other assets.

A gunman killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, in December 2012. Jones repeatedly claimed that the dead students were actors and that the massacre was a set-up, leading to harassment of the families.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story