Sandy Hook family suffers major blow in their attempt to collect on $50M owed by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for saying mass school shooting was a hoax
The parents of a child killed in the Sandy Hook massacre suffered a major setback as they tried to collect some of the $50 million they won in a lawsuit against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones over his false claims that the shooting was a was a hoax.
Lawyers for Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was killed in the 2012 Connecticut shooting, earlier this month obtained an order from a Texas state judge allowing them to collect some of the assets of Jones’ company, Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems.
The ruling came just hours after federal bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez dismissed the company’s bankruptcy filing.
But Lopez said in court Thursday that the state judge’s ruling violates federal bankruptcy law — as eight other families of Sandy Hook victims await money from their $1.4 billion judgment, while Jones appeals the case.
“I don’t think the state court was actually aware of any of these issues,” the judge said.
Alex Jones will not yet have to pay over some of the money he owes to the families of Sandy Hook victims, a bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday.
He ruled Thursday that a newly appointed federal trustee appointed to oversee the liquidation of Jones’ personal assets now has control over Jones’ ownership of Free Speech Systems.
Lopez then said that the trustee, Christopher Murray, is the only one allowed to sell the company’s assets and distribute the proceeds equally to all of Jones’ creditors.
“There will be no attempt and you are not obligated to turn over the bank account or access to the bank account,” Lopez told Murray. as reported by the News-Times.
Mark Bankston, an attorney representing Lewis and Heslin, criticized the decision in a statement Thursday.
“Our clients are frustrated because they ultimately cannot pursue their rights in state court,” he said.
‘Apparently, much to Mr Jones’ delight, this case will remain in limbo, while the other group of claimants insist they are entitled to almost the entire recovery.’
Scarlett Lewis, the mother of six-year-old shooting victim Jesse Lewis (pictured) and Neil Heslin, the boy’s father, tried to collect some of the $50 million they won in a lawsuit against the conspiracy theorist.
A Texas court granted them access to some of the assets of Jones’ company, Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems — but a federal bankruptcy judge quashed that Thursday
Lewis and Heslin, who now live in Texas, are at loggerheads with relatives of the other young victims in Connecticut over how to handle Jones’ bankruptcies and how to sell his assets.
Almost immediately after Lopez’s bankruptcy filing was dismissed, they attempted to seize his business accounts and convert Jones’ personal bankruptcy filing into a liquidation, meaning that much of his assets will be sold to pay off creditors.
Attorneys for Lewis and Heslin said the dismissal of Free Speech System’s case meant they could go back to the Texas state court in Austin and ask a judge to order the company to turn over money and other assets to Lewis and Heslin.
But trustee Murray filed an emergency motion asking the judge to halt the collection of the funds in state court, arguing that doing so would prevent Jones’ company from closing and liquidating.
He wrote that it “threatens to throw the company into chaos, possibly bringing it to a standstill,” and asked Lopez to pause Texas’ action while he works on “an orderly wind-down” of Free Speech Systems’ operations. reports the New York Times.
Lewis and Heslin have been at odds with eight other families of Sandy Hook victims over the division of Jones’ assets.
They claim the Connecticut families — who won a $1.4 billion settlement — don’t want to split the money evenly
The families of the eight victims who sued Jones in Connecticut also filed an emergency motion asking Lopez to block Texas’ ruling.
They argued that this would lead to a “race” between the Sandy Hook families in the Texas and Connecticut courts to see who would get Jones’s assets first. Lawyers for both sides claim that the other is actually trying to get a disproportionately large share of Jones’s assets.
The Connecticut attorneys say the size of their client’s jury award entitles them to a larger share of Jones’ assets — and wrote in the emergency filing that they “own more than 95 percent of the liquidated claims.”
But those families are prohibited from seeking any assets through the state courts, while Jones is appealing the rulings in the state courts, arguing that he had the right to file his claims.
However, attorneys for the Texas family have argued that Jones’ assets should be divided equally among all the families.
Last week, Mark Bankston, an attorney representing Lewis and Heslin, even alleged that lawyers in Connecticut had rejected his team’s offer to fairly divide the money collected through the state courts.
According to the Times, the Connecticut plaintiffs’ attorneys have consistently refused to accept an equitable distribution.
“They claim that despite the extremely small amount of money they recovered, they are entitled to almost all of the monies they collected from Jones.”
According to the most recent financial documents, Jones currently has only about $9 million in personal assets
He announced Thursday that even though Infowars is bankrupt, he will start a new media empire from scratch
But in a statement following Lopez’s ruling on Thursday, Chris Mattei, an attorney for the Connecticut families, said they “have always sought a fair and equitable distribution of Free Speech System’s assets for all families, and today’s decision puts us back on that path.”
“We are pleased that the bankruptcy court has directed the Chapter 7 trustee not to transfer FSS property or bank accounts to any party at this time.”
Bankston, meanwhile, said his clients are “frustrated that they cannot exercise their rights in state court.”
“Apparently, this case will remain in limbo as long as one group of plaintiffs refuses to allow all plaintiffs to be treated equally.”
The 2012 Connecticut elementary school shooting left 20 first-graders and six teachers dead
Families of the victims have said they were harassed by some of Jones’ followers after the attacks.
The battle for the money is sparked by the discovery, through bankruptcy filings, that Jones’ fortune is worth less than the families thought.
Jones currently has only about $9 million in personal assets, according to the most recent financial filings, while Free Speech Systems has about $6 million in cash on hand and about $1.2 million in inventory, according to court testimony.
If the money were divided equally among the families, each family would receive less than $500,000.
That figure could drop even further because Jones would still have to pay his legal bills and taxes.
The families are now hoping that more money will come from Free Speech Systems.
In the meantime, trustee Murray plans to shut down Infowars, Jones’ multimillion-dollar conspiracy theory website, and use the proceeds to pay the families he smeared by claiming that the shooting that killed 20 first-graders and six teachers was “completely faked with actors.”
The relatives said they were traumatized by Jones’ conspiracy theories and the actions of his followers. They claimed they were harassed and threatened by Jones’ listeners.
Some families said the conspiracy theorists confronted them personally, saying the shooting never happened and their children never existed.
One parent also said someone threatened to dig up his dead son’s grave.
Jones now says he believes the shooting happened, but maintains he had the right to make the claims.
He also said on his show on Thursday that Infowars may no longer exist in two to three months, but that he will resume broadcasting on another platform that he will build.