Satirical publication The Onion stated it has purchased Alex Jones’ Infowars at a chapter public sale for an undisclosed value, with the backing of the Connecticut households of eight victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary Faculty capturing and one first responder.

Jones owes greater than $1 billion in defamation judgments to the households for calling the bloodbath a hoax. In a press release from their attorneys, the households stated the acquisition is “placing an finish to the misinformation machine that Jones used to defame the households and victims for years.”

Sealed bids have been opened Wednesday on the public sale, which had been accepted by a chapter court docket earlier this yr to permit the Sandy Hook households to obtain funds from Jones. The conspiracy theorist and his firm filed for chapter in 2022 after shedding defamation and emotional misery lawsuits by Sandy Hook households after he repeatedly referred to as the Connecticut college capturing a hoax staged by “disaster actors.” 

The acquisition was confirmed by conspiracy theorist Jones, who posted a video on X saying that The Onion purchased his firm. “The Connecticut Democrats with the Onion newspaper purchased us,” he stated within the put up, describing the bidding as “aggressive.”

The assertion from the Sandy Hook households stated the acquisition consists of Infowars’ mental property, which incorporates its web site, buyer lists and stock, in addition to some social media accounts and manufacturing tools utilized by Jones to air his exhibits. 

“The Connecticut households agreed to forgo a portion of their restoration to extend the general worth of The Onion’s bid, enabling its success,” in keeping with the assertion.

Nevertheless, in keeping with the Related Press, late Thursday the federal decide in Jones’ chapter case ordered a listening to for subsequent week on how the public sale was carried out.

Choose Christopher Lopez stated that he had considerations about how the public sale was carried out and ordered the listening to after complaints by legal professionals for Jones and an organization affiliated with Jones that put in a $3.5 million bid, the AP reported.

CBS Information has reached out to The Onion for remark. 

What’s going to The Onion do with Infowars?

In a press release on the social media web site BlueSky, The Onion CEO Ben Collins stated his firm has plans for Infowars. 

“We’re planning on making it a really humorous, very silly web site. We have now retained the companies of some Onion and Clickhole Corridor of Famers to drag this off. I can not wait to point out you what we’ve got cooked up,” he wrote.

The Onion stated its “unique launch advertiser” would be the gun violence prevention group Everytown for Gun Security.

In a satirical article posted to The Onion, the supposed CEO of International Tetrahedron, the guardian firm of The Onion, stated “the choice to accumulate InfoWars was a simple one for the International Tetrahedron government board.”

“Based in 1999 on the heels of the Satanic ‘panic’ and rising steadily ever since, InfoWars has distinguished itself as a useful instrument for brainwashing and controlling the plenty,” International Tetrahedron CEO Bryce P. Tetraeder wrote. “No value could be too excessive for such a cornucopia of malleable belongings and minds.”

Have been there different bidders for Infowars? 

The opposite bidders haven’t been disclosed, however each supporters and detractors of Jones had expressed curiosity in shopping for Infowars. 

What are the Sandy Hook households saying?

The households and their attorneys stated they have been hopeful that the sale of Infowars would curtail Jones’ capacity to unfold conspiracy theories. 

The sale of Jones’ belongings and “the dying of Infowars is the justice we’ve got lengthy awaited and fought for,” Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed within the 2012 capturing in Connecticut, stated in a press release offered by his legal professionals.

“From day one, these households have fought in opposition to all odds to deliver true accountability to Alex Jones and his corrupt enterprise,” Chris Mattei, lawyer for the Connecticut plaintiffs and associate at Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, stated in a press release. “Our shoppers knew that true accountability meant an finish to Infowars and an finish to Jones’ capacity to unfold lies, ache and worry at scale. After surviving unimaginable loss with braveness and integrity, they rejected Jones’ hole presents for allegedly extra money if they’d solely let him keep on the air as a result of doing so would have put different households in hurt’s means.”

The Related Press

contributed to this report.