The Onion’s Infowars bid is blocked
A Texas bankruptcy judge blocked onionHis bid to buy Infowars on Tuesday left the future of the notorious conspiracy website uncertain — and sparked national debate around its founder. Alex Jonesaccountability of. In ruling against onionThe satirical news site planned to turn Infowars into a parody later site win at last month’s auction, Judge Christopher Lopez citing concerns on the structure and transparency of the auction system. “I think there is a lack of clarity here,” Lopez said, adding that the auction “simply did not maximize value in any way,” however “had good intentions.”
The fate of Infowars and its parent company, Free Speech Systems, has hung in the balance since 2022, when Jones lost a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit brought by several families of the victims. Sandy Hook shooting launched. For years, Jones falsely claimed on Infowars and other channels that the 2012 school massacre was a hoax perpetrated by victims’ relatives and other shadowy actors.
However, Jones’s loss in court and the resulting settlement forced him to do so liquidation His personal assets, including Infowars. Two sets of bidders eventually made their offers on the site. The first was a company affiliated with Jones, offering $3.5 million in cash. The second group is an inclusive group onionIts parent company, the first response agency and eight Sandy Hook families, made a $7 million bid, including $1.75 million in cash. On November 14, a court-appointed trustee requested an auction for onion.
In Tuesday’s ruling, Lopez essentially blamed that trustee for taking sealed bids and failing to maximize profits from the sale, which belonged to Sandy Hook’s family and other creditors. Jones. Notably, Infowars auction families with onion essentially agreed to give up those earnings to buy back the site. In a statement, the family’s attorney said New York Times that they “remain resilient and determined to hold Alex Jones and his corrupt enterprises accountable for the harm he has caused.”
Infowars is now up for grabs, although the company is unlikely to get back on the auction block. On Tuesday, Lopez gave instructions Christopher Murraytrustee in the case, to offer some alternative solutions. IN a statementrepresent onion said it was “extremely disappointed” in the bankruptcy judge’s decision, but that it would “continue to explore an avenue to acquire InfoWars in the coming weeks.” For his part, Jones also seems prepared to fight another round: On X, he has posted a large number of celebratory messages and live streams since the verdict was announced. “I want to thank everyone who stood by me and the Infowars team as we weathered the full-blown deep state assault of the past nine years,” he wrote Wednesday morning.