Peeling Back the Layers of Alex Jones and His Continuous Court Battles

Alex Jones has been in and out of court rooms for years now. First, he was sued by the families of Sandy Hook victims for his dangerous conspiracy theories. Now, he is in court again over the winners of the bid for Free Speech Systems LLC. The same families that once faced Jones in a courtroom are now being hauled back in alongside the top bidder by Jones himself for collusion in the auction. 

The Sandy Hook Family Lawsuits Against Alex Jones

As the host of the Infowars, Alex Jones was notorious for his outlandish conspiracy theories. The nail in his coffin would be his conspiracy that the Sandy Hook was a hoax. Throughout the years, Jones has made the following claims about the tragedy: “staged” “an inside job” “undoubtedly there’s a cover-up” “a giant hoax,” “the whole thing was fake,” “in my view, manufactured” [1].

Claims like these did not go without repercussions. Not only did Jones encourage baseless conspiracy theorists in their attack on Sandy Hook, but there were serious impacts to the surviving family of Sandy Hook victims. Families faced threats via Facebook, strangers in public, and doxxing of home addresses motivated by the lies spread by Jones [2]. Grieving the loss of a child is more than enough pain for one person to go through, but Jones’ words added layers of more pain to deal with. 

While there is no undoing the damage Alex Jones has caused, the Sandy Hook family brought defamation lawsuits against Jones in Texas and Connecticut. During the 2022 Texas case, Jones himself would testify on the stand “that the shooting was ‘100 percent real’ and that it was ‘absolutely irresponsible’  to call it a hoax” [3]. His testimony would be critical in the ruling that Jones owes $1.5 billion to the Sandy Hook families. 

The first question one has after finding out they owe $1.5 billion is if they actually have that kind of money. Regardless, that Jones’ liquify his personal assets, from property, possession, to his companies. During his bankruptcy filing, forensic economist Bernanrd Pettingill testified that Jones was certainly a well off man [4]. Infowars average annual revenue between 2015-2018 was $53.2 million, with nearly $65 million coming in during 2022. However, Free Speech Systems LLC, the parent company of Infowars, was reported to have $14.3 million in assets as of May 31, 2022, with $79.2 million in debt listed [5]. What Pettingill was able to uncover was how much of the debt was in the form of a note to PQPR Holdings, that named Jones as the manager. Pettingill found nine other private companies associated with Jones that appeared to be where much of his unreported income was coming from. 

Regardless of how much money Jones has, it is not going to be enough to pay the ordered $1.5 billion dollars. This means that in the meantime, Jones has made moves to sell his ranch, gun collection, and more.

Part of liquidating his assets meant that Jones placed Free Speech Systems LLC up for auction. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee, Christopher Murray, is working to liquidate Jones’ estate, which included managing the auction [6]. Global Tetrahedron, known as the parent company to The Onion, was named the winner of the auction with a $1.75 million bid, accompanied by an agreement by Sandy Hook families to waive their right to proceeds from the sale [7].

The Onion rode its high of winning the auction for about a week before backlash came hard. The backup bidder, First United America Companies LLC, claimed that collusion took place blocking their $3.5 million cash offer from winning [8]. First United operates Alex Jones’ online store ShopAlexJones.com. Jones echoed First United’s claims that something was happening behind the scenes to give The Onion a leg up. 

Murray stands his ground that a “fair and open” auction occurred, with The Onion as the clear winner as a bid valued at more than $7 million [9]. Murray stands his ground that First United is looking for preferential treatment with their lesser bid and existing connections with Jones, and have no real evidence to present in court that their bid has a higher value. 

CEO of The Onion, Ben Collins, released the following response to Alex Jones regarding his lawsuit: “We’re obviously disappointed he’s lashing out by creating conspiracies, but we’re also not surprised” [10]. When it comes to Collins’ image for the future of Infowars, he says “we are planning on making it a very funny, very stupid website” [11]. The Onion is known for its satirical writing on the news, and this is the same energy they will be bringing to Infowars if their bid gets through this lawsuit.

Future court proceedings will only tell who the final owner of Infowars will be. Alex Jones seems to have thought that the owner of his old company would be a friend that would continue his legacy. Ben Collins clearly had other plans that have set yet another lawsuit for Jones into action.

Sources:

1. Here is exactly what Alex Jones has said about the Sandy Hook massacre | Media Matters for America
2. Sandy Hook parent recounts years of harassment after Alex Jones called him a crisis actor | CNN Business
3. Alex Jones v Sandy Hook families: All you need to know | AP News
4. Jury in Alex Jones Trial Awards $45 Million More to Sandy Hook Parents - The New York Times
5. Id
6. Alex Jones Sues Sandy Hook Parents, Onion Over Infowars Bid (1)
7. Id
8. Id
9. Id
10. Id
11. The Onion buys Alex Jones's Infowars at auction