Alex Jones back on the hook for damages after chapter decide sends Sandy Hook circumstances to Texas court

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy decide has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 safety and sent his defamation instances back to state courtroom in Texas, the place the dad and mom of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how a lot Jones should pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not surprised that Mr. Jones’ latest stunt has failed like all of the others,” said Mark Bankston, an attorney representing four parents who won two defamation instances towards Jones in Texas last year. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within the coming weeks, and these families will finally have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

Bankston was referring to a month-long saga in Texas bankruptcy court docket where three Jones-controlled entities filed for Chapter 11 protection one week earlier than a jury trial was to start to determine what damages Jones owed two dad and mom he defamed when he called the worst crime in Connecticut history “staged,” “artificial,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax,” and “completely faux with actors.”

The bankruptcy choose’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas might begin as quickly as June, Bankston instructed.

Among the many disclosures that came out of the chapter courtroom hearings is that Jones has suffered financially as the Sandy Hook defamation circumstances have progressed. Jones has spent no less than $10 million on authorized fees and has lost at least $20 million, his representatives stated in courtroom. Jones did not file for bankruptcy safety himself, his representative stated in courtroom, because he feared it could harm his brand in the conspiracy idea market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, the place an FBI agent and eight households who lost family members within the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School also gained a defamation case in opposition to Jones in 2021, a listening to was deliberate in Connecticut bankruptcy courtroom on Tuesday that's expected to end in a similar final result as the Texas cases.

The reason has to do with a maneuver the Sandy Hook households took here and in Texas to outflank Jones in bankruptcy courtroom.

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting placed on hold the 2 trials in Texas and the third planned in Connecticut, since federal courtroom trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for families here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “dangerous faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech methods didn't file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a mixed month-to-month earnings of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made a minimum of $76 million in 2019, his representatives mentioned in courtroom.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three enterprise entities in chapter from their lawsuits. As a result of the households not had a stake within the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits against Jones and Free Speech techniques could be launched again to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their goal was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who were not get together to the bankruptcies.

In rulings on Thursday and Friday, the federal bankruptcy court in Texas agreed.

It stays to be seen whether Connecticut bankruptcy court will rule equally. The trial to award defamation damages to the Sandy Hook households in Connecticut had been scheduled for August.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342