A copy of the satirical publication The Onion is seen Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Little Rock, Ark. (AP Photo/Jill Bleed)

Satirical news publication The Onion has been named the winning bidder for Alex Jones’ Infowars in a bankruptcy auction, backed by the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims to whom Jones owes more than $1 billion in defamation judgments because called the massacre a hoax.

The purchase would hand over Jones’ company, which has sold conspiracies and disinformation for decades, to a humor site that plans to relaunch the Infowars platform in January as a parody. But the judge in Jones’ bankruptcy case said Thursday he had concerns about how the auction was conducted and ordered a hearing for next week after complaints from lawyers for Jones and a company affiliated with Jones, which filed a $3.5 million bid.

Within hours of the announcement of The Onion’s winning bid, the Infowars website was down and Jones was broadcasting from what he said was a new studio location. For sale were the Infowars website; social media accounts; studio in Austin, Texas; trademarks; video archive; and other assets.

“The liquidation of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long waited for and fought for.” Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed in the 2012 shooting in Connecticut, said in a statement provided by his lawyers.

The satirical outlet — which carries the banner of “America’s Best News Source” on its masthead — was founded in the 1980s and for decades has muddled politics and pop culture, including making Jones a frequent target of mocking articles. Mass shootings in the US, such as the Sandy Hook attack, are often followed by The Onion publishing slightly updated versions of one of its best-known recurring pieces: “‘There’s no way to prevent it,’ just says the nation where it happens regularly.”

On his live broadcast, Jones was angry and defiant in announcing the sale “a total attack on freedom of expression”. He later announced that his show was closed. Jones then resumed his show from a new studio nearby and streamed it live on his X accounts.

At a court hearing Thursday afternoon in Houston, the administrator who oversaw the auction, Christopher Murray, acknowledged that The Onion did not have the highest bid, but said it was a better deal overall because some of the Sandy Hook families agreed to give up a portion of the proceeds of the sale to pay Jones’ other creditors. First United American Companies, a business affiliated with one of Jones’ product-selling websites, submitted the only other bid. The admin said he couldn’t put a dollar amount on The Onion’s offer.

Walter Cicack, an attorney for First United American Companies, told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez that Murray changed the bidding process just days before, deciding not to hold a Wednesday round where the parties could bid against each other. Sealed bids were submitted last week, and the administrator chose only from those, Cicack said.

Murray said he followed the judge’s bidding rules set out in a September order that made the overbid round optional. But Lopez said he was surprised no such bidding round had taken place and had concerns about transparency.

“We’re all going to an evidentiary hearing and I’m going to find out exactly what happened,” he said. “No one should be comfortable with the results of this auction.”

An exact date for next week’s hearing was not immediately set.

After the hearing, Jones said on his show that he believed the auction was unfairly rigged and expressed optimism that the judge would overturn the sale. He repeatedly told his listeners that if his supporters won the bid, he could stay on the Infowars platforms, but that he had set up a new studio, websites and social media accounts in case the need arose. they.

“This was an auction that didn’t happen, with a lower bid, with money that wasn’t real,” he said.

Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, said in a video interview with The Associated Press on Thursday that he plans to relaunch the Infowars site in January with satire aimed at conspiracy theorists and right-wing figures, as well as educational information. on gun violence prevention from the group Everytown for Gun Safety. Collins did not disclose the bid amount.

“We thought it would be a really funny joke if we bought this, probably one of the best jokes we’ve ever told.” Collins said. “The (Sandy Hook) families have decided that they will actually join our bid, support our bid, to try to get us over the finish line. Because at the end of the day, we or Alex Jones could either continue this site unabated with virtually no punishment for what it has done to these families over the years, or we could make a stupid, stupid site and have decided to do the second thing.”

Jones did not lose his personal X account, which has more than 3 million followers, in the auction. But the bankruptcy judge decides whether his personal accounts can be sold at the trustee’s request.

Sandy Hook families sued Jones and his company for repeatedly saying on his show that the shooting that killed 20 children and six educators in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax staged by actors crisis to boost more gun control. The parents and children of many of the victims testified that they had been traumatized by Jones’ conspiracies and threats from his followers. Jones has since admitted it was the shooting “100% real.”

Chicago-based The Onion bills itself as “The world’s leading news publication, providing highly regarded and universally respected coverage of breaking national, international and local news events.” Recent titles have included, “Trump Boys Slap Fight Over Who Can Lead Foreign Policy Meetings”, “Oklahoma Law Requires Ten Commandments Displayed in Every Womb” and “Man forgetting the difference between meteorites, meteorite struggles to describe what just killed his dog.”

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Associated Press writer Ken Miller contributed from Oklahoma City.