Infowars Is Back on the Market

The Onion could finally get its hands on Alex Jones’ far-right media empire Infowars.

On Wednesday, a Texas state judge ordered Infowars’ parent company’s, Free Speech System, assets be handed over to a court-appointed receiver, who will oversee their sale. The proceeds will be used to pay Jones’ massive debt to the families of the children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

The families won a $1.3 billion defamation case in 2022 against Jones, who spent years peddling false claims that the massacre was staged and that the grieving parents were crisis actors. His followers harassed the families for years.

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble granted the receiver broad authority over Free Speech Systems’ assets including the power to change locks on their properties, access storage units and safe-deposit boxes, and take control of their websites.

“Today’s order brings us a critically important step closer to achieving the goal that the Connecticut families have spent years fighting for: holding Alex Jones accountable for years of harm,” said Chris Mattei, an attorney for the Connecticut families, in an emailed statement to Gizmodo. “The receiver is now authorized to liquidate his business assets, and we look forward to the corrupt media empire that Jones built finally being dismantled.”

Mark Bankston, an attorney for the families based in Texas, told NPR, “The families are relieved that the court has placed Infowars’ parent company into receivership, a step that will finally hold Alex Jones accountable for his monstrously cruel harassment.’”

Infowars did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gizmodo.

Last December, a federal bankruptcy court judge in Texas blocked the proposed sale of Infowars to The Onion. He ruled that the bankruptcy auction process was flawed and that the satirical media company’s bid was too low.

The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, had offered $1.75 million in cash for the site, a bid supported by the families of the Sandy Hook victims. Bidding against them was First United American Companies, a group affiliated with Jones that helps manage his dietary supplements business, which submitted a $3.5 million offer.

The Onion’s original plan was to relaunch Infowars this year as a parody of itself.

“The Onion’s goal with the acquisition is to end Infowars’ relentless stream of disinformation used to sell supplements and replace it with The Onion’s own relentless stream of humor for good,” the company said in a press release before the sale was blocked.

With the state court’s latest ruling, The Onion’s chance to snatch up Infowars is back on the table. The company didn’t immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.