Alex Jones files for bankruptcy

InfoWars host told a Texas bankruptcy court he could not cover the $1.5 billion he owed Sandy Hook families in defamation damages

Alex Jones files for bankruptcy

Alex Jones files for bankruptcy

Lawyers for Sandy Hook families claim the InfoWars host is trying to dodge $1.5 billion payout

Controversial InfoWars host Alex Jones filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday, informing a court in Texas that he had assets insufficient to cover the liabilities exceeding $1 billion. The move comes after Jones was ordered to pay almost $1.5 billion to lawyers and families of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims for claiming it had been staged.

“between $1 million and $10 million” in assets and faced “between $1 billion and $10 billion” in liabilities to “50 to 99 creditors.”

“The American judicial system will hold Alex Jones accountable, and we will never stop working to enforce the jury’s verdict.” Chris Mattei, an attorney for the families in the Connecticut case, said in a statement quoted by AP and Reuters.

“crisis actors” on his show.

In October, a Connecticut jury ordered Jones to pay $965 million in compensatory damages to the several Sandy Hook families, with a judge adding another $473 million in punitive damages. A separate lawsuit in Texas resulted in Jones being ordered to pay another $49 million to a Sandy Hook family. His lawyers said they would appeal both verdicts.

Jones testified that he had “legitimately thought” at the time the shooting might have been staged, but later changed his mind and apologized “hundreds of times.” He also called the lawsuits an attack on the constitutionally protected right of free speech and described the proceedings as a “struggle session” in China.