It appears far right lunatic and fearmongering conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is trying to weasel out of paying the settlement he knows is coming to the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School victims he defamed following the horrific shooting there.
Glenn Greenwald must be so proud.
The parent of far-right conspiracy website InfoWars filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection on Friday as the company and its founder Alex Jones face up to $150 million in damages in a trial over longstanding falsehoods he perpetuated about the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre.
The bankruptcy filing by the InfoWars parent, Free Speech Systems LLC, would normally result in the trial and related litigation being halted. But Free Speech plans to ask a bankruptcy judge to allow the trial currently underway in Texas to continue and is seeking an emergency hearing on Monday, according to a court filing.
Nevertheless, Jones and his company could later attempt to use the bankruptcy proceedings, commenced in another Texas court, to limit the size of any damages a jury awards.
A bankruptcy filing by three other InfoWars entities in April proposed $10 million to resolve the litigation, far less than what the Sandy Hook families are seeking. The proposal contemplated legal releases shielding Jones and his company from the lawsuits in exchange for the payment.
The entities that previously declared bankruptcy - InfoW, IW Health and Prison Planet - voluntarily ended their cases in June after the Sandy Hook families dropped them as defendants in the defamation litigation.
The company filing for bankruptcy now is Free Speech Systems, LLC, who released a statement saying they believe "it is in its best interests to continue the current damages trial because substantial resources have been spent on both sides, and the Sandy Hook plaintiffs would likely fight to keep the trial going despite the bankruptcy filing."
The Sandy Hook families called this exactly what it is, a "sinister" attempt by Jones to shield himself from liability and ever actually being held accountable for his actions. The attorney for Free Speech Systems justified the filing by saying that InfoWars was being "shunned by significant internet, social media and financial institutions," and that the company has "suffered as a result."
Here's to hoping this one gets tossed out of court and the judge sees right through this, that these families finally see some justice, and that Alex Jones is actually bankrupted and put out of business. And while we're at it, why hasn't he been held accountable for his actions on January 6th? It's long past time for a day of reckoning for what he did on that day as well.
