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The Onion buys InfoWars at bankruptcy auction
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The Onion buys InfoWars at bankruptcy auction

The satirical website The Onion bought InfoWars on Thursday, capping years of lawsuits and bankruptcy proceedings following InfoWars founder Alex Jones’ defamation of families linked to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

Those families supported The Onion’s bid to buy InfoWars’ intellectual property, including its website, customer lists and inventory, certain social media accounts and the production equipment used to put Jones on the air. The Connecticut families agreed to forgo a portion of their recovery to increase the overall value of The Onion’s bid, which would enable its success.

The families said the purchase would put an end to Jones’ disinformation campaign.

“We were told this outcome would be virtually impossible, but we are no strangers to impossible battles. The world needs to understand that having a platform does not mean you are above responsibility – the dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long waited and fought for,” says Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting.

A copy of the satirical outlet The Onion will be on display in Little Rock, Ark., on November 14, 2024.

Jill Bleed/AP

In 2022, the families who brought the case against Jones in Connecticut secured a $1.4 billion verdict in their defamation lawsuit. A Texas bankruptcy court ruled in June this year on the liquidation of Jones’ assets, handing control to an independent trustee tasked with selling them to generate the greatest possible value for the families.

“From day one, these families have fought against all odds to bring real accountability to Alex Jones and his corrupt company. Our clients knew that real accountability meant an end to Infowars and an end to Jones’ ability to spread lies, pain and fear. After surviving an unimaginable loss with courage and integrity, they rejected Jones’ empty offers for supposedly more money if they would just let him stay on the air because it would have put other families at risk,” said Chris Mattei, attorney of the police. the Connecticut plaintiffs and partner at Koskoff Koskoff & Bidder.

Jones had filed for bankruptcy last year in an attempt to avoid the $1 billion judgment, but a judge ruled he still had to reach a settlement with the Sandy Hook families.

Bankruptcies often prevent legal judgments, but not if they result from intentional and malicious injuries. Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston ruled that the standard had been met in Jones’ case.

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks to the media after arriving at the federal courthouse for a hearing before a bankruptcy judge on June 14, 2024, in Houston.

David J. Phillip/AP, files

“In Jones’ case, the language of the jury instruction confirms that the damages awarded arise from the allegation of intent to harm the plaintiffs – and not from allegations of recklessness,” Lopez wrote in his ruling.

Jones had claimed on his InfoWars show that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting — which killed 26 people, including 20 elementary school students — was carried out by actors following a script written by government officials to bolster the push for gun control.

Max Zahn of ABC News contributed to this report.