The trustee in charge of Alex Jones’ bankruptcy case said Monday that he will close his Infowars media site and liquidate Jones’ business assets as he tries to repay the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting.
Court-appointed administrator Christopher Murray said in an “emergency” motion that he will “conduct an orderly liquidation” of Infowars and sell its assets.
The announcement comes weeks after a Texas federal judge ruled to liquidate Jones’ personal assets. The judge did not determine the fate of Infowars at the time.
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, resulting in a nearly $1.5 billion judgment against him that forced Jones to declare bankruptcy.
Victims’ families also attempted to take control of Jones’ social media accounts.
Jones has continued to stream on Infowars amid the bankruptcy process, but said he expects the platform to shut down in the coming months. He has promised to continue his show on another platform or as an employee under potential new ownership, though details of the plan are unknown.
“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 a hearing earlier this month, the Associated Press reported. “But this is just the beginning of my fight against tyranny.”
Murray also asked Judge Christopher Lopez to halt efforts by Texas victims’ families to raise funds from Jones during the sale process, arguing that they would interfere with the process. The proceeds from asset sales would be returned to families.
Jones lost two lawsuits related to the Sandy Hook shooting, a $50 million judgment from a Texas family and a $1.4 billion judgment from 20 Connecticut families.
Referring to the Texas family’s collection efforts, Murray said in Sunday’s filing that: “The specter of a disorderly seizure of [Infowars’s] assets, including his money, threatens to throw the business into chaos, potentially paralyzing it, to the detriment of his duties in Jones’ personal bankruptcy case.
“The Trustee seeks the intervention of this Court to prevent a destructive money grab and allow an orderly process to take its course,” Murray said.
An attorney representing the Connecticut families involved in the lawsuit said they support Murray’s efforts and were “disappointed” by the Texas family’s attempts to recover the funds separately.
“This is precisely the unfortunate situation that the Connecticut families (in the lawsuit) hoped to avoid,” said attorney Christopher Mattei. told AP.
The families have yet to receive any funds from Jones during the trials and appear unlikely to receive any significant portion of the sizable penalties.
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.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
