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☆ Sandy Hook Families Say Alex Jones Cannot Hide Behind Bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Elizabeth Williamson | More About Elizabeth Williamson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

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

☆ A shadowy club in California recently associated with Clarence Thomas is being sued for multiple labor violations. Here's what the secret retreat is known for.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Former workers, known as valets, are suing an elite men's club for alleged labor violations. The Bohemian Club has been associated with right-wing political figures, including Clarence Thomas. The suit names Bohemian Club treasurer William Dawson as someone who directly asked employees to "falsify payroll records." The club is also known for hosting "Lakeside Talks," where members, often those of the political elite, speak about policy ideas. The Bohemian Club and a lawyer for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, —, Harlan Crow, Thomas, valets, William Dawson, Sam Singer, Singer, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, Alex Jones Organizations: Bohemian, Service, GOP, Bohemian Club, Pomella, Press Democrat, Club, Grove Locations: California, Monte Rio , California, Bohemian

☆ News organizations are struggling to cover media figures and politicians peddling delusions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Some news organizations are beating around the bush when covering prominent figures who hold detestable views, many of which are wholly unhinged from reality. That has been on display over the last 24 hours on three different fronts: In stories about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “This type of normal language news organizations use doesn’t communicate how unhinged some of this stuff is,” media columnist Margaret Sullivan told me Tuesday. But the duty of a journalist and news organizations is to tell the story, without fear or favor. It gives those figures who profit financially and/or politically from extremist rhetoric license to continue trafficking in the destructive noise.

Persons: Robert F, Kennedy, Jr, James Comer, Andrew Tate, peddle, Comer, Tate, Margaret Sullivan, ” Sullivan, ”, Jonathan Reiner, George Washington, ” Reiner, Donald Trump, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, Alex Jones, Jones Organizations: CNN, Republican, Democratic, Department of Justice, Tate Locations: Kentucky

☆ Inside Infowars' crumbling empire: Ex-Staffers reveal the 'volatile' and 'unhinged' atmosphere working for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Tom Porter | Ashley Collman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

One afternoon in the spring of 2017 Alex Jones furiously lunged at his video producer. According to Jacobson, Jones had to be restrained by another Infowars staffer lest he actually hurt him. Alex Jones did not respond to Insider's request for comment. Owens also said he felt guilty about his complicity in promoting the Sandy Hook conspiracy theories during his time working there. "People hearing the words Sandy Hook, they automatically think Alex Jones," she added.

Persons: Alex Jones, lunged, Robert Jacobson, Jones, Jacobson, hawking, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Alex, baselessly, David, doesn't, Sandy Hooks, Sandy Hook, Josh Owens, Owens, Marjorie Taylor Greene, John Travolta, badgering, George, we're, Jone, Nuri Vallbona, lackey, …, That's, I'm, Christmas Jones, Kelly, David Duke, Duke, Infowars, He'd, David McCullough, Christopher Jordan, Jordan, they're, Megan Squire, Squire, Dave Mustain, Tim Kennedy, Donald Trump, Chris Mattei, Judge Barbara Bellis, Daria Karpova, Karpova, " Jacobson, he'll, He'll Organizations: Austin, Austin Community, Facebook, Factory, Infowars, Iron, Alamo, New York Times Magazine, REUTERS, New, Senate, Housing, Southern Poverty Law Center, San Diego, Free Speech Systems, YouTube, Sandy, Connecticut Superior, Associated Locations: Austin, Texas, USA, Infowars, Atlanta, Austin , Texas, U.S, New York City, Louisiana, Infowar, Newtown, Connecticut, New Orleans, Waterbury, Conn

☆ Andrew Tate claims he’s a force for good. Others say he spreads a ‘misogynistic rape culture’
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Emory Andrew Tate III is a 36-year-old professional fighter-turned media personality from Chicago who has racked up billions of views online for his rants about male dominance, female submission and wealth. In the years since, he has become a divisive online content creator with the self-proclaimed “misogynist” suspended from all major social media platforms. ‘Daily diet of misogyny’Tate has been accused of pedaling hateful views online and making his controversial lifestyle appealing to young and vulnerable audiences. Introduce the topic by saying you have read about Andrew Tate and ask if they have heard of him,” she suggested. According to Drummond, schools are being proactive in starting conversations that allow adolescent males to explore issues surrounding Tate and his ideology.

Persons: Andrew Tate, Lucy Williamson, Tate, “, ”, Williamson, I’ve, I’m, ” Tate, Jayne Butler, Tristan, Emory Andrew Tate, “ misogynist ”, Elon Musk, Vadim Ghirda, Greta Thunberg, ’ Tate, Hope, Georgie Laming, Tate’s misogynist, ” Laming, Alicia Drummond, ” Drummond, Drummond, Laming, Tommy Robinson, YouTuber Paul Joseph Watson, Alex Jones, “ Tate, Andreea Alexandru, can’t Organizations: London CNN, Wales, American, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Media, Elon, AP Tate, Romania’s, CNN, Tate, Management Agency, Hate Locations: Romania, England, British, Chicago, Bucharest, Britain, United States, Australia, “

☆ Former Trump adviser Michael Flynn is launching an online community for 'COVID-19 unvaccinated people,' where you can find blood donors, surrogates, and 'unvaccinated singles.' A founding membership c
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was a national security adviser during the Trump Administration. He pled guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contact with a Russian ambassador. The community is called 4thePURE, and members can connect with blood donors, sperm donors, breastmilk donors, surrogates, and unvaccinated singles, according to the website. It will also have a directory of "COVID-19 unvaccinated patriot businesses." He pled guilty to lying to the FBI in 2017.

☆ Tucker Carlson's next move
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Aaron Short | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Tucker Carlson's dismissal signals a new realignment in conservative media. Nobody at Fox "was as connected to the MAGA base as Tucker Carlson," one ex-Trump official said. Whatever the reason, Carlson's dismissal signals a new realignment in conservative media. Last month, Tucker Carlson Tonight was the top-rated program among all news channels with 3.25 million viewers including 421,000 viewers in the coveted age 25-54 demographic. His previous work includes the 2022 profile of Carlson, The Tucker Carlson Origin Story.

☆ Facebook, Twitter Rebuffed Sandy Hook Families’ Request for Data in Alex Jones Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Ted Mann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Alex Jones, accompanied by private security guards, arrived in October at the Connecticut Superior Court in Waterbury, Conn.Twitter and Facebook rebuffed subpoenas from families of the Sandy Hook school massacre victims, who were seeking internal company data to show how conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s false claims about the killings spread on social media, according to court documents and lawyers for the families. The fight last year over access to the social-media platforms’ data played out largely behind the scenes of the legal battle to hold Mr. Jones liable for his claims. The families of the victims in the 2012 massacre, in which a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six educators inside a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, sued Mr. Jones and his companies, including the website Infowars, for defamation. Mr. Jones had claimed the shooting was an elaborate hoax.

☆ InfoWars' Alex Jones purchased a $4,000 cryogenic chamber and spent $100,000 on guns, filing shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Alex Jones spent bought a cryogenic-freezing chamber that can help with mental disorders, it is claimedThe revelations were made in a new filing in a Texas bankruptcy court. Jones has been accused of trying to shield his wealth from paying $1.5 billion to Sandy Hook families. Jones claimed on his InfoWars show in December that he was "officially out of money, personally," per CBS News. Jones reported earning roughly $38 million from InfoWars in 2021 and 2022. The judge presiding over the bankruptcy case of InfoWars' parent company said he was "troubled" on Monday after discovering that Jones had redirected $157,000, initially intended for InfoWars, for personal use.

☆ Alex Jones is transferring his money away so he doesn't have to pay Sandy Hook victims, NYT reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Alex Jones owes families of Sandy Hook victims close to $1.5 billion. Jones has been transferring his assets to family and friends, The New York Times reported. The Times reported that Jones' company, Free Speech Systems, has already transferred tens of thousands of dollars to another company he owns with his parents. And he's started new business partnerships with companies founded and owned by his friends, the Times reported. Jones is still broadcasting Infowars, and The Times reported his lawyers have said in court that business is "booming."

☆ Alex Jones is trying to swing a bankruptcy plan where he still gets paid $520,000 a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones filed for bankruptcy, but he wants to be paid $520,000 per year. Jones owes around $1.5 billion to the relatives of the Sandy Hook shooting victims. Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems — which he fully owns — filed for bankruptcy separately in December and July, respectively. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, Free Speech Systems filed a reorganization proposal on Tuesday. It sources some of its products from a company called PQPR Holdings, to which Free Speech Systems owes $54 million.

☆ Alex Jones claims authorities want to take his expensive cat because he's bankrupt. He's leaving out the fact he gave his wife and parents $1.3 million last year.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Joshua Zitser | Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bankrupt Alex Jones owes almost $1.5 billion in court-awarded damages to Sandy Hook families. His wife shared a video of him on Thursday complaining that authorities want to take his cat. Jones' wife, Erika Wulff Jones, posted a bizarre video on Twitter on Thursday of her husband complaining about the authorities' attitude towards the pet. "They were very serious about the cat and its value, and they may want the cat for the Sandy Hook families," he said. Jones' personal bankruptcy has so far protected him from paying out defamation judgments and creditor collection efforts, but he is required to list all the personal and household items he owns.

☆ Alex Jones bankruptcy filing shows that he has guns that belong to Jan. 6 rioters
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Alex Jones is holding onto firearms for January 6 rioters, The Washington Post reported. Jones filed for bankruptcy after a judge ordered he pays the families of Sandy Hook victims. Among the items, Jones wrote that he's "holding firearms for certain January 6th participants," the document reads, per the Post. Before Jones was ordered to pay the families, InfoWars had also filed for bankruptcy, but only after it transferred millions to other entities. According to the bankruptcy filing, in 2021 Jones reported making a gross income of $617,143.02 and approximately $639,000 in 2020.

☆ Bankrupt Alex Jones, who owes almost $1.5 billion to relatives of Sandy Hook victims, is spending nearly $100k a month
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Alex Jones is spending almost $100k a month, according to bankruptcy paperwork. Jones declared bankruptcy after being ordered to pay almost $1.5 billion in court-awarded damages. But the bankrupt conspiracy theorist is still spending nearly $100,000 a month, according to bankruptcy paperwork. According to the filings, Jones' estimated monthly expenses total $99,645. The bankruptcy filings show that Jones currently owns three homes in Austin, Texas, three cars, and two boats.

☆ Why Davos conspiracy theories have gone mainstream
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting at Davos has long been a lightning rod for conspiracy theories. In the past, however, these farcical conspiracy theories have largely been confined to the fringe corners of the internet — places like Infowars. The radical ideas promoted by the likes of Jones have gone mainstream, having been popularized by some of the most influential personalities in right-wing media. The Associated Press’ Sophia Tulp reported this week that use of “The Great Reset” has been on a steady rise at Fox News. The danger of conspiracy theories has not been lost on attendees at Davos.

☆ Alex Jones said he was 'so stressed out' during his January 6 examination that he was unable to spell his own middle name correctly
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The January 6 committee released the transcript of its interview with Alex Jones on Wednesday. The far-right radio host pleaded the fifth to almost all of the questions asked by investigators. He also misspelled his own middle name, stating he was "so stressed out, I can't even spell it." an investigator, whose identity was redacted in the report, asked Jones. Jones later said on his radio show after the examination that investigators "were polite, but they were dogged."

Companies Free Speech Systems, Llc FollowDec 19 (Reuters) - Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Monday asked a judge to allow him to take a $1.3 million annual salary from the bankrupt parent company of his Infowars' website. Jones drew a $1.3 million salary from Free Speech Systems before its bankruptcy, and his attorney asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez to restore his salary to that level at a hearing Monday. Free Speech System's monthly revenue has dropped to $1.9 million from pre-bankruptcy levels of $6 million to $7 million, attorneys from the company said, adding that it currently has about $1.8 million in cash. Marty Brimmage, an attorney for the Sandy Hook families, opposed Jones' request for an increased salary. Lopez said he is "open to increasing" Jones' pay but did not have enough evidence to make a ruling yet.

☆ NYPD searching for suspect who said 'Kanye 2024' during antisemitic attack inside Central Park
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Yasmeen Persaud | Doha Madani | Doha Madani Is A Senior Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. Pronouns | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

The New York Police Department is asking for tips after a suspect assaulted a 63-year-old man in Central Park last week. At about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, a man hit the 63-year-old in the back of the head after making antisemitic remarks, police said. Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has recently made a string of public comments amplifying antisemitic stereotypes and conspiracy theories. Police are looking for a man wanted in connection with an anti-Semitic attack in Central Park in New York. The assault occurred at the intersection of East Drive and Terrace Drive, a short walk east of the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park.

☆ Donald Trump failed to mention dinner he had with 'racist antisemites' but still got standing ovations from conference of Orthodox Jews: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former President Donald Trump spoke at a conference of Orthodox Jews on Friday. Conference attendees responded with multiple standing ovations, according to AP. Trump failed to mention a dinner in November with Ye and Nick Fuentes, who have both spewed antisemitic hate. Attendees of the annual President's Conference of Torah Umesorah at Trump's National Doral resort in Miami, Florida, responded to his remarks with several standing ovations, according to AP. During his address to the Orthodox Jewish conference, Trump referencing his past remarks on antisemitism from his own 2019 State of the Union address led to standing ovations, according to AP.

☆ Ten years after Sandy Hook shooting, Connecticut town spends a day in reflection
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Nathan Layne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/8] Dr. Anthony Salvatore, co-president of the Connecticut Federation of School Administrators lays roses on the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial as part in a wreath laying ceremony hosted by The National Teachers Hall of Fame to mark the 10th anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, U.S., December 14, 2022. Wearing a green sweater - the Sandy Hook school color - he walked the memorial, stopping at the names of the children who now would have been 16 and 17. He renewed a call to ban the kind of military-style rifles used in Sandy Hook and many other mass shootings. Mark Barden, whose 7-year-old son Daniel was killed at Sandy Hook, is one of several parents who channeled their grief into advocacy. He co-founded Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit that aims to educate teachers and students about warning signs that can be used to identify likely mass shooters.

☆ It's been a decade since the Sandy Hook shooting. Here are the names and pictures of the 27 victims, including 20 children, who were murdered that day.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Michal Kranz | Rebecca Harrington | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twenty children and six staff members were killed in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012. It was the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary school in US history. The 20-year-old gunman also killed his mother that day and shot himself after the massacre. "Sad for the searing loss, that hurts like hell every Dec 14th for those parents, my friends. Here are all 27 people killed in the deadliest elementary school shooting in US history.

☆ Trump, Kanye West, and Nick Fuentes pushing antisemitism to the forefront of the GOP could pull the Christian nationalist movement apart
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But they also exposed a darker side of Christian nationalism that was always there, experts say. Americans who support Christian nationalist ideas may not identify as Christian nationalists. Andrew Whitehead, a sociologist at IUPUI and co-author of "Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States," has found similar connections between Christian nationalism and antisemitism. Additional research has also found close connections between Christian nationalism, antisemitism, QAnon followers, and supporters of Trump. Greene has said the GOP should be the party of Christian nationalism and even sells merch adorned with the term.

☆ Kanye West's Yeezy Apparel fashion company owes $600,000 in unpaid tax to California with notices dating back two years, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The state of California has issued multiple tax notices to Yeezy Apparel, according to NBC News. Yeezy Apparel previously paid the LA district attorney a $950,000 settlement for false advertising. Over the last two years, the state has issued multiple tax liens – legal claims for unpaid debts – against Yeezy Apparel, NBC reported. Yeezy Apparel is a fashion design and merchandising business which started in 2017, according to public business records. But tax-law experts told NBC that the tax notices indicate big problems at Yeezy Apparel.

In the first hearing of Jones' bankruptcy in a Houston court, his attorney Vickie Driver said Jones wanted to settle with the Sandy Hook families. They won $1.5 billion in defamation trials over Jones' lies about the 2012 school shooting. David Zensky, an attorney for the Sandy Hook families, said Jones lied for years about the Sandy Hook shooting and concealed information about his companies InfoWars and Free Speech Systems. InfoWars' parent company, Free Speech Systems, which is owned by Jones, filed for bankruptcy in July, before courts in Texas and Connecticut determined the amount of Jones' liability for the Sandy Hook defamation claims. Jones has said that he will appeal the Sandy Hook verdicts if he is unable to reach a settlement in bankruptcy.

☆ Alex Jones, who mocked Sandy Hook families and swore they'd never be paid, says he has less than 1% of what he owes them
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Alex Jones owes families of the Sandy Hook shooting nearly $1.5 billion after two trials. Jones was ordered to pay the damages to the families of the Sandy Hook victims following a series of defamation trials this year. InfoWars' parent company, Free Speech Systems, declared bankruptcy over the summer, and Jones declared personal bankruptcy in a Texas court filing last month. In the first hearing of Jones' bankruptcy in the court on Wednesday, an attorney for the Sandy Hook families questioned whether Jones was lying about his finances. The conspiracy theorist spent years pushing false theories about the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, in which 20 first graders and six adults were killed.

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