Judge Spares Infowars but Liquidates Alex Jones' Assets

Alex Jones' comeuppance for spreading audacious lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting became very real on Friday:

• A bankruptcy judge in Houston ruled that his personal assets will be liquidated to help repay the $1.5 billion he owes to families of the victims, reports the AP. An interim trustee will guide the process. Jones had requested that his personal bankruptcy reorganization be converted to a liquidation, per CNBC.
• Judge Christopher Lopez separately decided that Jones' Free Speech Systems—parent company of his Infowars platform—does not have to be liquidated as well. That means Jones can continue broadcasting on Infowars, per the New York Times.
• The families split on the judge's decisions. Those that sued Jones in Texas support keeping him on the air, which could help them collect more in damages. The families that filed in Connecticut wanted to pull the plug on Jones' broadcasts.
• The most recent court filings said Jones had about $9 million in personal assets and about $6 million cash in hand from his company. His personal home in Austin is exempt, but Jones will sell off a Texas ranch valued at nearly $3 million.

• Jones has been warning his fans that Infowars' days were numbered for weeks, and he predicted as much to reporters before Friday's hearing. "This is probably the end of Infowars here very, very soon," he said. "But it's just the beginning of my fight against tyranny."
• The AP notes that Jones—who spread the conspiracy that the massacre at Sandy Hook was a hoax—has been directing fans to a website run by his father in order to keep buying dietary supplements he pushes.

(The surviving first-graders just graduated from high school in Newtown, Connecticut.)