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.

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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.