Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families who won historic defamation damages against the Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones told a federal bankruptcy judge in Houston on Tuesday that Mr. Jones should not be allowed to use his Chapter 11 filing to evade $1 billion-plus verdicts made against him.
If the judge rules in the families’ favor, Mr. Jones would likely be working the rest of his life to pay the debt.
Mr. Jones spent years spreading lies that the 2012 shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax aimed at gun control.
Families of 10 victims sued him for defamation, and in trials in Texas and Connecticut were awarded about $1.4 billion in damages.
As the cases went to trial, Infowars declared bankruptcy, and Mr. Jones declared personal bankruptcy late last year.
Persons:
Sandy Hook, Alex Jones, Jones, Christopher Lopez, Infowars, Jones’s, Chris Davis, Veronique De La Rosa, Noah Pozner
Organizations:
Sandy Hook Elementary
Locations:
Houston, Sandy, Newtown, Conn, Texas, Connecticut