AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas judge on Wednesday pushed back the first jury trial over how much conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay the families of Sandy Hook victims after his Infowars company sought bankruptcy protection this week.
The delay ordered by state District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble comes days after Infowars and two other companies tied to Jones filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas.
Jones has lost defamation lawsuits in Texas and Connecticut over his comments that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was a hoax. The first trial over how much he should pay the families had been scheduled to begin Monday in Austin, where Infowars is headquartered.
A new trial date has not been set. A judge in Connecticut also paused all proceedings surrounding defamation lawsuits against Jones in that state after the bankruptcy filing.
Attorneys for Sandy Hook families have accused Jones of trying to hide millions of dollars in assets. Creditors listed in Infowars' bankruptcy filing include relatives of some of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 school massacre in Connecticut. In the filing, Infowars said it had estimated assets of $50,000 or less and estimated liabilities of $1 million to $10 million.
Jones has since conceded that the shooting did happen.
It is not the first time a bankruptcy filing has affected a lawsuit filed by the Sandy Hook families. While suing gun maker Remington, which manufactured the AR-15-style rifle used in the school shooting, the company filed for bankruptcy twice. In the second case filed in 2020, Remington’s assets were eventually sold off to other companies.
The 2020 bankruptcy delayed proceedings for a year in the Connecticut lawsuit, which sought damages against Remington for how it marketed its rifles. In February, the families of nine victims of the school shooting announced they had agreed to settle the case for $73 million.
TEGNA contributed to this report.
