A federal judge on Friday ordered the liquidation of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ′ personal assets but was still deciding on his company’s separate bankruptcy case, leaving the future of his Infowars media platform uncertain as he owes $1.5 billion for his false claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.
Judge Christopher Lopez approved converting Jones’ proposed personal bankruptcy reorganization to a liquidation. He planned to hear testimony on whether Jones’ company, Austin, Texas-based Free Speech Systems, also should be liquidated. Free Speech Systems is Infowars’ parent company.
Lopez’s ruling earlier Friday means many of Jones’ personal assets will be sold off. But his primary home in the Austin area and some other belongings are exempt from bankruptcy liquidation.
He already has moved to sell his Texas ranch worth about $2.8 million, a gun collection and other assets to help pay debts. Jones did not seem to react when the judge issued the order about his personal assets, but became more animated as Lopez heard from attorneys about the possible liquidation of Free Speech Systems.
At times he mumbled under his breath or shook his head when attorneys for some of the Sandy Hook families discussed statements Jones made on his Infowars show this week.
He has been telling his web viewers and radio listeners that Free Speech Systems is on the verge of being shut down because of the bankruptcy. A headline on Infowars’ website Friday said: “Watch Live! Will This Be The Final Day Of Infowars Transmissions?”
He also has been urging his followers to download videos from his online archive to preserve them and pointing them to a new website of his father’s company if they want to continue buying the dietary supplements he sells on his show.
“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 court before Friday’s hearing. “But it’s just the beginning of my fight against tyranny.”
