Starting next month, Infowars, the media company owned by Alex Jones, will be auctioned off to facilitate payments to the families of those affected by the tragic Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. A Houston judge has made this decision as part of a $1.5 billion settlement that Jones was ordered to pay.
The auction, set to occur in November, will include various assets from Infowars, such as its social media accounts, copyrights, and trademarks associated with its parent company, Free Speech Systems. In addition to these, other assets, including studio equipment, are slated for sale in subsequent auctions.
During a court session on Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez expressed his intent to approve the sale. However, he emphasized the need to amend a prior ruling to clarify that the trustee in charge of Jones’ personal bankruptcy will oversee all assets belonging to Free Speech Systems.
After being found liable for defamation and emotional distress in lawsuits brought by Sandy Hook families, Jones and his company filed for bankruptcy in 2022. This legal action followed Jones’s repeated claims that the Connecticut school shooting was a hoax orchestrated by “crisis actors.” In this horrific incident, Adam Lanza took the lives of 26 individuals, including 20 children, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
The outcome of the Infowars auction could have a significant impact on Jones’ broadcasting career. He has expressed a desire to continue hosting talk shows, which he could potentially do via a new website or through his personal social media platforms—assets that are not included in the auction.
Under the terms of the auction, anyone—supporters or opponents of Jones—will have the opportunity to bid on Infowars’ assets. Recently, Jones remarked on his show, “It’s very cut and dry that the assets of Free Speech Systems, the website, the equipment, the shopping cart, all that, can be sold. And they know full well that there are a bunch of patriot buyers, and then the operation can ease on.”
Christopher Mattei, representing the Sandy Hook families, described the judge’s decision to hold the auction as “a significant step forward” in ensuring accountability for Jones’s falsehoods. He stated, “Alex Jones will no longer own or control the company he built. This brings the families closer to their goal of holding him accountable for the harm he has caused.”
