Aafter a weekend in which conspiracy theorist Alex Jones warned that his media company faced an imminent federal government shutdown over its bankruptcy cases, a judge on Monday allowed Jones to continue operating for the next two weeks while it is decided whether his assets should be liquidated.
Both Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, filed for judicial recovery after he lost two cases and was ordered to pay $1.5 billion to relatives of victims of 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. They sued Jones for calling the shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, a hoax, alleging defamation and infliction of emotional distress.
The families opposed Jones’ reorganization plans. On Sunday, they filed an emergency motion to convert Free Speech Systems’ bankruptcy recovery into receivership, saying Jones has made no progress in showing how he will pay the court judgments.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston said Monday he will address the motion on June 14, when a decision is expected on the liquidation of Jones and his company’s assets.
Jones appeared on his radio and web show over the weekend with “emergency broadcasts” claiming that the Free Speech Systems, including his Infowars broadcasts, would be shut down any minute by the federal government and the bankruptcy system. This did not happened. At one point, he asked his followers to form a human chain around his studio in Austin, Texas, to protect him.
Some of Jones’ comments came in expletive-laden rants, and Jones appeared to cry at points.
“There’s really no way out of this,” Jones said on his Sunday show. “I’m kind of in the bunker here. And don’t worry. I’ll be back. The enemy cannot fail to make this attack.”
On Saturday, Jones was defiant, saying “At the end of the day, we’re going to beat these people. I’m not trying to be dramatic here, but it’s been a difficult struggle. These people hate our children.”
The broadcasts were a response to apparent disputes between Jones, a chief restructuring officer appointed by the bankruptcy court to oversee Jones’ company and another company that provides the nutritional supplements Jones sells on his shows, according to lawyers in the bankruptcy cases. Jones made derogatory comments about the person responsible for the restructuring over the weekend, one of the lawyers said.
The other company that supplies the supplements, PQPR Holdings Limited, is actually majority owned by Jones. A lawyer for PQPR said in court Monday that the company objected to allowing Free Speech Systems and Infowars to continue operating until June 14, claiming that Jones was not cooperating in bankruptcy discussions and calling for Free’s immediate closure. Speech Systems.
PQPR attorney Stephen Lemmon told the judge there was no agreement to allow Free Speech Systems to continue operating after Monday.
“We think everyone will be better off if this ends now,” Lemmon said.
Annie Catmull, a lawyer for Free Speech Systems, asked the judge to continue allowing the company to operate.
Lopez, the judge, ruled that the company can continue to pay employee salaries and other expenses until June 14, after asking lawyers to “lower the temperature” in their arguments.
Christopher Mattei, attorney for the Sandy Hook families, said Jones was “manufacturing a crisis” about the threat of imminent closure, noting that the dispute was between two companies owned by Jones. PQPR also claims that Free Speech Systems owes it millions of dollars in unpaid bills for nutritional supplements, a debt considered false by the families’ lawyers.
Jones’ lawyers have been unable to reach an agreement in recent months with the families’ lawyers on how to resolve the bankruptcy cases. Jones’ attorney recently said in court that the cases appear to be headed toward settlement or could be withdrawn.
Liquidation could mean that Jones would have to sell most of what he owns, including his business and assets, but he could keep his home and other personal belongings that are exempt from bankruptcy liquidation. The proceeds would go to his creditors, including the Sandy Hook families.
If the cases are dropped, it would put Jones back in the same position he was in after the $1.5 billion was awarded in the lawsuits and send efforts to collect damages back to the state courts where the verdicts were reached.
The families of many, but not all, of the Sandy Hook victims sued Jones and won both trials in Connecticut and Texas.
Relatives said they were traumatized by Jones’ comments and the actions of his followers. They testified at the trials 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.
According to the most recent financial statements filed in bankruptcy court, Jones personally owns about $9 million in assets, including his $2.6 million Austin-area home and other real estate. He also listed his living expenses at about $69,000 in April alone, including about $16,500 for his home expenses, including maintenance, cleaning and insurance.
Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, which employs 44 people, had nearly $4 million in cash on hand at the end of April. The business made nearly $3.2 million in April, including the sale of dietary supplements, clothing and other items that Jones promotes on his show, while also listing $1.9 million in expenses.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
