Advertisement

Alex Jones files for bankruptcy after Sandy Hook $1B verdict

Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones filed for bankruptcy on Friday, less than two months after a Connecticut jury awarded almost $1 billion in damages to plaintiffs who accused Jones of committing defamation when he called the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a hoax.

Jones, the host of Infowars, filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S. bankruptcy court in Houston, Texas.

In the filing, Jones said he had between $1 million and $10 million in assets, falling far short of between $1 billion and $10 billion in liabilities.

He said in the filing that he owes money to between 50 and 99 creditors.

PHOTO: Alex Jones, radio host and creator of the website InfoWars, speaks to members of the media outside a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., Sept. 5, 2018. (Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE)
PHOTO: Alex Jones, radio host and creator of the website InfoWars, speaks to members of the media outside a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., Sept. 5, 2018. (Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE)

The damages awarded in October to 15 plaintiffs – relatives of victims and an FBI agent who responded to the shooting – amounted to $965 million

Jones had claimed that the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was performed by actors following a script written by government officials to bolster the push for gun control.

In a previous case, in Texas, Jones was ordered to pay nearly $50 million to the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in the shooting.

Alex Jones files for bankruptcy after Sandy Hook $1B verdict originally appeared on abcnews.go.com