The satirical news source The Onion outbid rivals for Alex Jones’ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims owed more than $1 billion in defamation judgments against the broadcaster for calling the 2012 massacre a hoax.
The sale price was not disclosed when the families confirmed the deal on Thursday.
“The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for,” Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed in the 2012 shooting in Connecticut, said in a statement provided by his lawyers and seen by the Associated Press.
Jones, 50, confirmed The Onion’s acquisition of Infowars in a social media post and said he planned to file legal challenges to stop it.
“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.
“The Connecticut democrats with The Onion newspaper bought us,” he added.
Jones, who founded Infowars in 1999, was broadcasting live from his studio on Thursday morning while appearing distraught, putting his head in his hand at his desk, according to the AP report.
It was not immediately clear what The Onion planned to do with the platform, including its website, social media accounts, studio in Austin, Texas, trademarks and video archive.
The legal action was commenced by relatives of many of the 20 children and six educators killed in the shooting Jones and his company who sued for defamation and emotional distress for his repeatedly saying on his show that the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax staged by crisis actors to spur more gun control.
Parents and children of many of the victims testified that they were traumatized by Jones’ conspiracies and threats by his followers.
