Nov. 14 (UPI) — The Onion bought Infowars, the Alex Jones right-wing conspiracy theory website, in a bankruptcy auction confirmed Thursday by Jones.
Proceeds from the sale will go to pay down a $1.5 billion defamation verdict against Jones for spreading false conspiracy theories that claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook mass elementary school shooting was faked.
“I just got word 15 minutes ago that my lawyers and folks met with the U.S. trustee over our bankruptcy this morning and they said they are shutting us down even without a court order this morning,” Jones said on X Thursday. “I don’t know what’s going to happen but I’m going to be here until they come and turn the lights off.”
Citing a person with knowledge of the sale, NBC News said The Onion, a satrical news company that often satirized Jones, plans to rebuild the Infowars website to feature the work of well-known Internet humor writers and content creators.
Jones said security had notified him he has to leave the Infowars premises Thursday.
Infowars was sold in a bankruptcy auction after Sandy Hook elementary school shooting families won a $1.5 billion judgment against Jones in defamation suits.
They sued Jones for false conspiracy theories he spread about the 2012 elementary school mass shooting that happened in Newtown, Connecticut.
Jones repeatedly and falsely claimed the killings were faked.
“Our clients knew that true accountability meant an end to Infowars and an end to Jones’ ability to spread lies, pain and fear at scale,” Chris Mattei, an attorney for the Connecticut plaintiffs, said.
The Connecticut families agreed to forgo a portion of their recovery to boost The Onion’s bankruptcy auction bid, according to lawyers for the families.
Jones hawked vitamins and nutrition supplements on Infowars and has turned to selling those on another website owned by his father. That move is being legally challenged by Sandy Hook families who accuse Jones of trying to hide revenues that should be used to pay the families.
Going forward the families can continue to legally pursue money from Jones’ future earnings because the bankruptcy judge determined Jones’ defamatory behavior was “intentional and malicious.”