Alex Jones back on the hook for damages after bankruptcy judge sends Sandy Hook circumstances to Texas courtroom

NEWTOWN — A federal bankruptcy choose has launched extremist Alex Jones from Chapter 11 protection and sent his defamation instances back to state court in Texas, the place the mother and father of two boys slain in the Sandy Hook massacre await jury trials to see how much Jones will have to pay them.

“(We) are relieved but not shocked that Mr. Jones’ newest stunt has failed like all of the others,” stated Mark Bankston, an attorney representing 4 mother and father who gained two defamation cases in opposition to Jones in Texas final year. “Mr. Jones will now be held to account in a Travis County courtroom within the coming weeks, and these households will finally have the closure and recompense they deserve.”

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

The chapter decide’s ruling means the first postponed defamation awards trial in Texas could begin as quickly as June, Bankston urged.

Among the disclosures that got here out of the bankruptcy court hearings is that Jones has suffered financially because the Sandy Hook defamation circumstances have progressed. Jones has spent at the very least $10 million on authorized fees and has lost a minimum of $20 million, his representatives stated in court. Jones did not file for chapter protection himself, his representative mentioned in court docket, as a result of he feared it could harm his brand in the conspiracy concept market.

In the meantime in Connecticut, where an FBI agent and eight families who misplaced loved ones in the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School also received a defamation case against Jones in 2021, a listening to was planned in Connecticut bankruptcy courtroom on Tuesday that is expected to end in an analogous end result as the Texas instances.

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

Jones’ Chapter 11 submitting put on hold the two trials in Texas and the third deliberate in Connecticut, since federal court docket trumps state proceedings. Attorneys for households right here and in Texas fought Jones’ Chapter 11 petitions as “unhealthy faith” filings, since Jones himself and his money-making Free Speech techniques didn't file for bankruptcy. The three Jones-controlled entities that sought Chapter 11 safety have a mixed month-to-month revenue of $38,000 whereas Jones himself made at the very least $76 million in 2019, his representatives stated in court.

In response, the families dropped Jones’ three business entities in chapter from their lawsuits. As a result of the families not had a stake in the bankruptcies, they argued, their lawsuits towards Jones and Free Speech techniques may very well be launched again to the state courts for trial. The households argued that their target was Jones himself and Free Speech Systems, who weren't party to the bankruptcies.

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

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

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342