The purchase of Alex Jones ‘ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction by the satirical news publication The Onion is the latest twist in a years-long saga between the far-right conspiracy theorist and the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.

The sale was ordered after relatives of many of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 shooting. successfully sued Jones and his company for defamation and emotional distress. Jones repeatedly made false claims on his show that Newtown, Conn., shootings it was a hoax staged by crisis actors to push for more gun control.

Here are some things to know about how Jones’ misinformation empire ended up on the auction block.

The rise of Infowars

Fresh out of high school in the early 1990s, Jones, a barrel-chested Texas native with a terrible voice, began broadcasting on a public access television channel in the state capital. From the beginning, Jones promoted conspiracies about the US government and false claims about a secret New World Order.

In 2004, Jones had two employees and a small office in South Austin. In 2007, he founded Free Speech Systems to run his growing media business, according to court filings in his bankruptcy filings. By 2010, Jones had more than 60 employees.

As the outlandish nature of his bogus claims grew, so did his media empire, with annual revenues of up to $80 million and a fan base that at its peak listened to him on over 100 radio stations from and through the United States. Infowars website and social media.

Jones’s Newtown Lies

Jones has recognized in court that he promoted the conspiracy theory that the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax perpetrated in part by the US government as part of an effort to expand gun control. He called the parents of the slain children “crisis actors” on his show and said the shooting was “as fake as a three dollar bill.”

After separate defamation lawsuits were filed in Connecticut and Texas by family members of the victims, Jones admitted in 2022 that the footage was “100% real” and said it was “absolutely irresponsible” to call it a hoax.

The lawsuits against Jones

The families of the victims who sued Jones said they were subdued years of torment threats and abuse from people who believed the lies told on his show.

Courts in Texas and Connecticut found Jones liable for defamation for portraying the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax and awarded the families nearly $1.5 billion in damages. In both states, judges issued default judgments holding Jones liable without lawsuits because he failed to respond to court orders and turn over many documents. Juries then heard evidence and decided on the amount of damages, and judges imposed additional penalties.

The story continues