The satirical news publication The Onion won the bidding for Alex Jones' Infowars at a bankruptcy auction, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims whom Jones owes more than 1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the massacre a hoax.
"The dissolution of Alex Jones' assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for," Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed in the 2012 shooting in Connecticut, said in a statement Thursday provided by his lawyers.
The Onion acquired the conspiracy theory platform's website social media accounts studio in Austin, Texas trademarks and video archive. The sale price was not immediately disclosed. The Onion said its "exclusive launch advertiser" will be the gun violence prevention organization Everytown for Gun Safety.
The Infowars website appeared to be down Thursday morning. Jones was angry and defiant on his live broadcast before announcing that his show was being shut down and signing off. Jones vowed to challenge the sale and auction process in court and said he would resume his broadcasts from a new studio using websites and social media accounts he said were already set up.
"The journey has just begun. Thank you," Jones concluded.
