On Monday, a federal bankruptcy judge cleared the door for a defamation case against Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to continue in Connecticut.
Relatives of several victims of the 2012 tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, filed the lawsuit. Jones has erroneously said that the nation’s bloodiest school shooting, which resulted in the deaths of 20 children and six teachers, was a fake.
Instead of continuing the lawsuit in Connecticut state court, Jones’s attorney attempted to have it transferred to a federal bankruptcy court. This action abruptly halted the first day of jury selection earlier this month. Judge Julie Manning’s judgment on Monday basically permits the plaintiffs to pursue the defamation action against Jones as an individual, without Jones’s firm, Free Speech Systems, a defendant in the Connecticut case.
“The plaintiffs’ rights to have this proceeding continue in the Connecticut Superior Court should not be interfered with,” Manning wrote in the ruling, adding that the plaintiffs’ damage claims were ready for trial.
Jones’s attorney, Norm Pattis, was requested for comment through an SMS.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Chris Mattei hailed the bankruptcy judge’s decision. “We are happy that the bankruptcy court saw through Alex Jones’ audacious attempt to obstruct the selection of a jury and hold him responsible. We eagerly anticipate trial, “He said in a written declaration. Jones and his defense team were condemned by Mattei for seeking to move the case out of state court at the last minute.
“Just two days before jury selection is scheduled to begin in Connecticut, Mr. Jones has once again run like a coward to bankruptcy court in an obvious effort to postpone confronting the families he has spent years harming,” the attorney tweeted at the end of July. “These families’ reservoir of patience is bottomless, and they are determined to hold Mr. Jones responsible in a Connecticut court.”
Alex Jones, conspiracy theorist with Infowars, seeks to answer questions regarding his emails posed by Mark Bankston, attorney representing Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, on August 3, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas.
BRIANA SANCHEZ / AP
Free Speech Systems filed for bankruptcy in Texas about one week before Jones’ attorney requested that the lawsuit be relocated to Connecticut. The Associated Press reported in April that Jones filed for Chapter 11 protection in the state where Free Speech Systems is located, Texas, just before jury selection was supposed to begin in the Free Speech Systems lawsuit in Texas. Jones claimed he had “maxed out” financially on his program. In one of the Texas claims, Jones was accused of concealing assets by transferring monies out of Free Speech Systems prior to filing for bankruptcy.
This month, a Texas jury ordered Jones to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages to the parents of one of the children slain at Sandy Hook, in addition to $4.1 million for the pain he caused them by maintaining that the tragedy was a hoax for years.
The lawyers for Jones intend to appeal and attempt to reduce the sum. In the meanwhile, in addition to the litigation in Connecticut, the parents of another child died at Sandy Hook have launched a lawsuit for damages in Texas.
Before the trial in Texas, Jones had been held responsible in separate defamation lawsuits in Texas and Connecticut brought by family of several Sandy Hook victims.
The Connecticut jury will determine whether Jones owes damages in this lawsuit, but state law might restrict the amount he must pay.
After jury selection, the two remaining cases are anticipated to begin next month. Attorneys said that jury selection in the Connecticut case might begin this week.