WASHINGTON — Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to hit pause on an almost $1.5 billion defamation judgment that was imposed over his false claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.
In a new filing, Jones said the court’s immediate involvement is needed because his website, InfoWars, is on the verge of being turned over to the satirical news site The Onion to help fund payments to family members of the Sandy Hook victims.
If the case is not put on hold, “InfoWars will have been acquired by its ideological nemesis and destroyed,” Jones’ lawyers wrote.
The Sandy Hook tragedy occurred in December 2012, when a gunman killed 20 first-grade children and six adults at the school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Families of the victims had sued, winning the huge judgment in Connecticut state court.
Jones, who owns InfoWars via his company Free Speech Systems, subsequently lost attempts in state court to appeal the judgment. He is also seeking bankruptcy protections.
The Onion failed in a previous attempt to acquire InfoWars via a bankruptcy auction, but Jones’ lawyer said a new attempt is underway in Texas state court.
His lawyers asked the Supreme Court to put the judgment on hold while the justices consider his appeal. The court is scheduled to discuss his appeal in private on Friday.