In a recent development, right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has filed a request with a US court to liquidate his assets, as stated in legal filings. The move aims to enable Jones to fulfill the damages he owes to the families of the victims of the tragic 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Notably, the affected families have not yet received any portion of the $1.5 billion (£1.32 billion) that Jones was ordered to pay in 2022.

Filed in a Texas court on Thursday, Jones' request seeks to convert his personal bankruptcy claim from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7. This conversion would allow Jones, the media personality behind Infowars, to sell off his assets rather than attempting to restructure his finances. In the filing, his lawyers assert that there is no viable prospect for a successful reorganization.

The request aligns with a settlement offer proposed by the Sandy Hook families in 2023, which suggests that Jones liquidate his assets to make a minimum payment of $85 million (£67 million) over the course of ten years. Among the assets potentially up for sale is Mr. Jones' ownership in Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars.

Both Alex Jones and Free Speech Systems had previously filed for bankruptcy towards the end of 2022. These bankruptcy filings created delays in compensating the victims' families. However, in a ruling made last year, a judge stated that Jones would still be required to honor the settlement despite the bankruptcy filings.

In 2022, Jones was ordered to pay the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims a total of $1.5 billion (£1.32 billion) in various defamation cases. These cases were the result of false claims made by Jones, who argued that the tragic attack, which claimed the lives of 20 young children and six staff members, was staged as part of an elaborate conspiracy to curtail gun rights.

Jones' false allegations led to harassment and death threats targeting the victims' families, and his conspiracy theories have also cast doubt on other mass shootings in the United States. However, during his testimony in a Texas court in 2022, Jones admitted his falsehoods and acknowledged that the Sandy Hook killings were "100% real."

Responding to the latest development, Avi Moshenberg, a lawyer representing the Sandy Hook victims' families, stated, "Making Alex Jones liquidate his assets in bankruptcy is a big step toward holding him accountable for his wrongdoing." Moshenberg reinforced the families' commitment to pursuing justice, emphasizing that this step is just one of many in their ongoing efforts.

It remains to be seen how the court will respond to Jones' request for asset liquidation and how soon the families affected by the Sandy Hook shooting will start receiving their deserved compensation.