Alex Jones files for bankruptcy after losing the Sandy Hook trial

Infowars host Alex Jones filed for personal bankruptcy in his home state of Texas on Friday after courts ordered him to pay nearly $1.5 billion for capitalizing on falsehoods about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting would have.

The conspiracy theorist filed for Chapter 11 protection in the Southern District of Texas, court documents show.

Courts have repeatedly ruled against Jones in recent months, ordering him to pay a huge sum of money from the various court cases. After a Texas court ruled that he owed more than $45 million in August, Jones was ordered to pay $965 million in damages in October, thanks to a Connecticut court, followed by a Connecticut judge’s order, another 473 million dollars to pay.

Since a gunman stormed the school in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 first graders and six educators, Jones told his audience that the shooting was likely staged and that the grieving family members of the victims were actors.

The Sandy Hook families, who have been stalked by threats from the Infowars fan base for years, responded with a defamation lawsuit. An FBI agent, responding to the horrific scene, also joined in.

Despite his claims to the contrary, Infowars has been a reliable moneymaker for Jones. Between 2015 and 2018, the company grossed $165 million, according to financial records previously obtained by HuffPost. But when faced with an onslaught of lawsuits that didn’t seem to be going his way, Jones reportedly began shifting his millions to family members or other businesses to shield them, according to The Washington Post.