Alex Jones files for personal bankruptcy after courts orders him to pay over $1 billion in Sandy Hook damages

Alex Jones
(Image credit: Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Right wing conspiracy theorist and political agitator Alex Jones filed for personal bankruptcy on Friday, according to court documents obtained by Reuters.

Jones' Chapter 11 filing comes just under two months after a jury in Connecticuit ordered the longtime InfoWars host to pay nearly $1 billion in damages to the families of eight children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Jones was previously found liable for damages stemming from his repeated false claims that the shooting was a staged hoax. Earlier this year a separate jury in Texas ordered Jones to pay nearly $50 million in damages to a different family of a Sandy Hook victim. A third trial stemming from Jones' Sandy Hook broadcasts is still pending.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Rafi Schwartz, The Week US

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.