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By Alia Shoaib
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The future of Infowars, the website founded by Alex Jones, may be determined through a courtroom battle after a judge rejected its sale to the satirical website the Onion.
Newsweek contacted the Onion and an attorney representing Jones via email outside normal working hours.
Why It Matters
After repeatedly claiming that the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, Jones faced defamation lawsuits and was ordered to pay almost $1.5 billion in damages to the victims' families. The radio host has been forced to sell Infowars to pay the sum.
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However, the ownership of the site remains up in the air after a judge ruled that the auction of Infowars wasn't conducted in a fair manner. The sale of the platform would have significant implications for the families of the Sandy Hook victims.
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What To Know
On December 14, 2012, a gunman killed 20 first graders and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Following the attack, Jones claimed the shooting was staged and that grieving relatives were "crisis actors."
While the radio host has since conceded that the massacre occurred, he argues that the subsequent defamation lawsuits against him, which have forced him to sell Infowars, violated his right to free speech.
At 11 a.m. on Monday, a hearing is scheduled in a Houston court to discuss the future of the website's sale.
In November, the Onion's parent company, Global Tetrahedron, bid $1.75 million to acquire Infowars in an auction, intending to turn the website into a parody of itself.
The bid included an agreement with some of the Sandy Hook victims' families to forgo $750,000 of the auction proceeds that would instead go to some of Jones' other creditors.
First United American Companies, a company aligned with Jones, was the only other bidder, offering $3.5 million in cash.
Christopher Murray, the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy, declared Global Tetrahedron's bid the winner. Murray said he selected the bid because it offered greater financial benefit to Jones' remaining creditors and testified that Global Tetrahedron's proposal was valued at $7 million.
However, Judge Christopher Lopez, who is overseeing Jones' personal bankruptcy case, rejected the results of the auction in December, arguing that it was not conducted fairly and could have yielded a higher price. The judge directed Murray to develop a new plan and to report back within 30 days.
What People Are Saying
Alex Jones, discussing the auction on his show, said in November: "This was an auction that didn't happen, with a bid that was lower, with money that wasn't real."
Ben Collins, the CEO of Global Tetrahedron, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in December: "We are deeply disappointed in today's decision, but The Onion will continue to seek a resolution that helps the Sandy Hook families receive a positive outcome for the horror they endured. We will also continue to seek the path towards purchasing InfoWars in the coming weeks. It is part of our larger mission to make a better, funnier internet, regardless of the outcome of this case."
Judge Christopher Lopez said while rejecting the results of the auction: "You got to scratch and claw and get everything you can for them."
What Happens Next
The court hearing on Monday could shed light on the next steps for the Infowars sale, which would affect the future of the platform and Jones' ongoing legal battle with the families of the Sandy Hook victims.
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