New York (AFP) - Alex Jones, the US conspiracy theorist who faces multiple defamation lawsuits by parents of victims of a massacre that he called a hoax, has declared bankruptcy for his far-right website Infowars, documents seen Monday showed.
The filing for bankruptcy protection, also known as "Chapter 11," is intended to freeze the civil court proceedings while recovery plans are prepared for the company, which can continue to operate.
The well-known but deeply controversial figure on America's rightwing fringe and promoter of multiple debunked conspiracy theories has been sued for years by parents of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut.
Jones claimed the massacre, which left 26 people dead including 20 children, was a fake event staged by anti-gun activists.
The parents had demanded Jones produce accounting documents which they say would show that he made millions of dollars by spreading such disinformation.
Jones, 48, has since acknowledged that the Sandy Hook murders were real.
In filing for bankruptcy, "Alex Jones is just attempting to delay the inevitable: a public trial in which he will be held accountable for his profit-driven campaign of lies against the Sandy Hook families who have brought this lawsuit," said Chris Mattei, a lawyer for five victims' families and an FBI agent who worked on the case.
Jones, accused by many as a provocative disinformation agent and huckster, is being sued in courts in Texas and Connecticut, where he has suffered legal setbacks.
In November, a judge in Connecticut ruled he was civilly liable and could be subject to damages.
The bankruptcy, filed in a Texas bankruptcy court, also involves Jones's companies IWHealth and Prison Planet TV.
