A federal judge in Texas on Friday ruled to liquidate Alex Jones’s personal assets as the families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre look to recoup a nearly $1.5 billion fine that forced him to declare bankruptcy.
The judge did not rule on the bankruptcy case against Jones’s media company Infowars, meaning the future of the platform is still uncertain. The conservative media host used the platform to repeatedly call the 2012 shooting that killed 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Conn., a hoax.
The families and Jones came to an agreement last week that his assets should be liquidated. Judge Christopher Lopez approved the liquidation Friday but did not determine the fate of the conservative media website.
It means his personal assets, including his collection of firearms and his $2.8 million ranch home, will be sold with the earnings distributed to families of the victims. Some assets, including his primary residence, are exempted.
In a court filing Thursday, the families also claim Jones’s social media accounts should be included in the liquidation to prevent him from using them to create future businesses. Lopez did not rule on the social media accounts, either.
The families have said they plan to pursue all of Jones’s future earnings, regardless of whether he continues broadcasting Infowars. Jones acknowledged his show may not survive.
“This is probably the end of Infowars here very, very soon. If not today, in the next few weeks or months,” Jones told reporters outside court before Friday’s hearing, The Associated Press reported. “But it’s just the beginning of my fight against tyranny.”
Jones has estimated in court records that he has less than $12 million in assets, meaning he will carry an enormous legal debt even after the media platform and his other assets are sold.
A gunman killed 20 children and six school staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Sandy Hook, Conn., in December 2012. Jones repeatedly claimed the killed students were actors and the massacre was a setup, leading to harassment against the families.