Alex Jones has given up the fight to keep control of his Infowars media empire and agreed to a quick sale of his personal and business assets.
The conspiracy theorist filed for bankruptcy in 2022 after the families of the Sandy Hook school massacre won a $1.5 billion libel judgement against him over his claim that the shooting was a 'hoax'.
He had offered the families $55 million over 10 years in settlement in a bid to retain control of his assets, but filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on Thursday after they refused.
It came five days after the alt-right agitator broke down in tears during a four-hour 'emergency' Infowars broadcast, claiming federal agencies were trying to drive him out of business.
'All we're trying to do is save America, and they're f***ing us over, over and over again,' he cried.
The 50-year-old conspiracy theorist sobbed openly on his Infowars show on Saturday
Jones has yet to fork over any of the more than billion-dollar sum to any of the victims of the mass shooting, which occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-five of the 26 victims are pictured
The broadcaster originally sought chapter 11 protection for his bankrupt estate in two court cases handling his personal and business assets.
It would likely have led to a bigger payment to the families of the 20 first-graders and six school staff who were murdered in the 2012 Connecticut school shooting.
But they feared it would allow him to keep broadcasting to his audience of conspiracy fans and asked federal Judge Christopher Lopez on Monday to place Jones' company Free Speech Systems into a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy.
He has yet to rule on that request but Jones's attorney in his personal bankruptcy case signaled that the game was up in a court filing on Wednesday.
'With the anticipated conversion or dismissal of the Free Speech Systems case, he does not believe his own estate would continue to benefit by remaining in Chapter 11,' his lead bankruptcy attorney Vickie Driver told the court.
'Thus, drawing out the Chapter 11 process would result in additional administrative expense with little benefit to (Jones') estate.
'Accordingly, he submits that this Chapter 11 case should be converted to Chapter 7.'
Parents refused a settlement of $55 million over 10 years in a bid to see Jones's show pulled
Chapter 11 bankruptcy could have wiped out his debt to the families, but a court upheld them in October after ruling that his defamatory remarks caused 'willful and malicious injury'
The 2012 massacre was the deadliest ever at a US elementary school.
But Jones's profile and audience began to rocket with his repeated claims that the killings at Robb Elementary School in Newtown were 'completely fake with actors', 'synthetic', and 'staged' as part of a government plot to seize Americans' guns.
He eventually acknowledged that the shooting took place but the victims' families said his conspiracy theories caused grieving parents to endure years of threats and harassment.
Lawyers for Jones have previously claimed he is a 'performance artist' who is merely 'playing a character' on his Infowars show.
The program, started in 1999, has since burgeoned into a full-fledged network, despite shilling a steady stream of disputable stories and claims.
'He's playing a character,' his attorney, Randall Wilhite, said at a pretrial hearing where Jones's ex Kelly Jones attempted - successfully to get custody of their three children. 'He is a performance artist.'
Kelly obtained custody of the kids after citing her husband's 'unstable' character and possibly illegal remarks.
Jones told viewers on Saturday he would sleep in his Dallas studio to prevent it being padlocked by the authorities.
'I've had secret federal files on me that committing crimes referred to the Justice Department,' he said.
'You want f***ing war, you f***ing got it!'
And he implied that he was resolved to fight his legal battles indefinitely.
'They want us shut down because in bankruptcy and what was happening we have a path with the judge to continue on for years, and the judge has signaled that,' he claimed.
US federal bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez (left) will decide on June 14 how to dispose of Jones's assets,Sandy Hook attorney Chris Mattei (right) said the families welcomed Jones's latest climb-down
'Different groups involved in the bankruptcy that will be exposed soon have literally made a move to shut this place down and end my show.'
Chapter 11 bankruptcy could have wiped out his debt to the families, but a Houston court upheld them in October after ruling that his defamatory remarkscaused 'willful and malicious injury'.
A court analysis found that his total assets amount to no more than $10 million, and Chapter 7 liquidation is likely to leave the families with less than $4 million between them after legal bills are paid.
But Jones's attorney told the court that Chapter 11 proceedings left them with 'no reasonable prospect of a successful reorganization'.
'Converting the case to a Chapter 7 will hasten the end of these bankruptcies and facilitate the liquidation of Jones' assets,' Sandy Hook attorney Chris Mattei told the New Haven Register.
'This is the same reason we have moved to convert his company's case to Chapter 7.'
