Infowars’ parent company files for bankruptcy

Alex Jones’ media company Free Speech Systems, which operates the rightwing conspiratorial outlet Infowars, has filed for bankruptcy in the latest in a string of financial maneuvers by the prominent rightwing conspiracy theorist.

The move came at the end of the first week of testimony at a trial in Texas set to determine how much he will have to pay the families of two Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting victims who sued for defamation and won a default $150m judgment against him.

Jones’ attorney Andino Reynal said the bankruptcy protection filing should not disrupt the trial. The company, he said, wants “to put this part of the odyssey behind us so that we have some numbers” set for damages.

Placing Free Speech Systems under bankruptcy protection comes after Jones was found legally responsible in a separate defamation case in Connecticut, where a group of families sued him over false claims relating to the shooting that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults.

Already, three smaller companies tied to Jones have already declared bankruptcy. After plaintiffs involved in the Texas and Connecticut lawsuits dropped their claims against them, they exited bankruptcy protection.

On Friday, after the bankruptcy filing was made public, an attorney for the families in the Connecticut case against Jones issued a statement. “Mr Jones has once again fled like a coward to bankruptcy court in a transparent attempt to delay facing the families that he has spent years hurting,” Christopher Mattei said.

The families in both actions claim they have experienced years of harassment and threats that resulted from Jones’ false claims that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax.

But how much the families in the parallel Texas or Connecticut case will be able to extract from Jones under a court judgment is unclear. He has claimed in court records that he had a negative net worth of $20m.

Court records also show that Jones’ Infowars website, which sells nutritional supplements and survival gear, made more than $165m between 2015 and 2018. He has also pitched listeners of the program to donate money.

In the Free Speech Systems filing, the company said it had made $13.1m in gross profit in 2021, $9.3m in gross profit in the first five months of 2022 and had $14.3m in liabilities and equity.

Arguing for a $150m award from the Texas court, families attorney Mark Bankston that the figure amounted to $1 for each person who believes Jones’ hoax theory, plus $75m in emotional and mental anguish compensation.

“Harm that was done to the parents, grieving parents of murdered children who have had to endure for 10 years, the most despicable and vile campaign of defamation and slander in American history,” Bankston said.