Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones doesn’t have to cry over The Onion just yet.
On Thursday, it was revealed that the satirical website had won Jones’ company, the far-right group Infowars, in an auction with the help of family members of the shooting victims. Sandy Hook Elementary School. However, within hours, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez, who is overseeing the Chapter 7 liquidation of Infowars and the rest of Jones’ assets, temporarily halted its transfer to The Onion.
“We’re all going to an evidentiary hearing and I’m going to find out exactly what happened,” he said. “No one should feel comfortable with the results of this auction.”
At the root of the problem is the bidding process itself and whether proper protocols were followed before The Onion became the auction winner and, subsequently, the new owner from Infowars. At an emergency hearing Thursday, attorneys for Jones and First United American — Infowars’ only other bidder — specifically challenged changes they said were made just days before the auction. They said Christopher Murray, the administrator who oversaw the proceedings, decided not to give competing parties the opportunity to outbid.
Instead, the administrator made its decision based on sealed bids submitted last week, and the terms of Onion’s winning bid were not disclosed. If approved, The Onion will take over Infowars’ website, trademarks, video archives, certain social media accounts, a studio in Austin, Texas and “production equipment used to bring Jones to the stage.” ‘antenna’.
Jones has used his internet and radio shows for years to claim that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax perpetrated by crisis actors to support a push for tougher school shooting laws. gun control. His claims led to a defamation lawsuit filed by the families of those affected by the massacre, in which 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, were shot and killed.
The internet personality was ultimately ordered to pay a whopping $1.44 billion, forcing him to declare bankruptcy. Jones — who also claimed that the 9/11 terrorist attack was an inside job and that the 2020 presidential election was rigged — has also since acknowledged that the shooting did in fact take place.
Murray confirmed Thursday that The Onion did not submit a higher cash offer than First United — which said it offered $3.5 million — but maintained it was following the rules established by Lopez in September. He said he believed The Onion’s deal was superior because some Sandy Hook families agreed to forgo part of the sale proceeds to pay Jones’ other creditors.
With news feed services
