By DAVE COLLINS, Associated Press

The satirical news publication The Onion won the bid to Alex Jones Infowars at Bankruptcy Auction Supported by Families of Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Victims Jones Owes over $1 billion in defamation judgments because he called the massacre a hoax.

The acquisition turns over Jones’ company, which for decades has peddled conspiracy and disinformation, to a humor website that plans to relaunch the Infowars platform in January as a parody. Hours after the announcement of the sale Thursday, the Infowars website was down and Jones was broadcasting from what he said was a new studio location.

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

The Onion has acquired the website of the conspiracy theory platform; social media accounts; studio in Austin, Texas; trademarks; and video archive for an undisclosed sale price.

The satirical station — which wears the banner “America’s Best News Source” — was founded in the 1980s and for decades has skewered 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 satire pieces: “‘No Way to Prevent This,’ says Only Nation Where This It happens regularly.”

“No price would be too high for such an abundance of goods and malleable minds,” The Onion said in its satirical post about the sale. “And yet, in a stroke of luck, a formidable group of special interests overtook the hapless owner of InfoWars (a forgettable man with an already forgotten name) and forced him to sell it at a bargain: less than a trillion dollars. .”

On his live broadcast, Jones he was angry and defiant, vowing to challenge the sale and auction process in court. He later announced that his show was closed. Jones, who told listeners for days that he already had a new studio set up nearby, then resumed his show on another social media account.

“This is a total attack on free speech, the deep state is completely out of control,” Jones told his listeners, referring to the conspiracy theories. “This is the tyranny of the New World Order, desperate to silence the American people.”

He argued that The Onion’s takeover was premature because the bankruptcy judge had not yet approved the winning bid.

A Jones affiliate named by the bankruptcy trustee as the backup bidder requested an immediate status conference, citing “apparent defects in the sale process, including changing procedures, lack of transparency and inaccurate disclosures to interested bidders.” A hearing was scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Houston.

The Chicago-based Onion consulted on the auction with some of the Sandy Hook families who have sued Jones for defamation and emotional distress in lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas, attorneys for the families said.

“Our clients knew that true accountability meant ending Infowars and ending Jones’ ability to spread lies, pain and fear at scale,” said Christopher Mattei, an attorney for the families.

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