The controversial media site Infowars, owned by Alex Jones, is being auctioned off next month so the conspiracy theorist can make payments to the families of the Sandy Hook victims.
Jones was ordered to pay $1.5 billion to the families of those killed when a gunman opened fire at the elementary school in 2012. A Houston judge ruled this week that to do so, Jones’ business could be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Among the items that will be liquidated are all of Inforwars’s assets, including its social media accounts, trademarks, and copyrighted materials owned by the parent company, Free Speech Systems, MSNBC reported.
The plan is for the liquidation to be held in November. Other assets that Infowars owns, like studio equipment, will be sold later at auction.
During a court hearing on Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said he would approve the sale of Infowars, NPR reported. However, said that he has to change a previous order he issued to make it clear that the trustee overseeing Jones’ personal bankruptcy case has full control of Free Speech Systems’ assets.
In 2022, Jones and his company filed for bankruptcy after losing the defamation and emotional distress lawsuits brought against him for repeatedly saying the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax.
The tragedy saw gunman Adam Lanza kill 26 people, including 20 children, in Newtown, Connecticut.
Jones has vowed to continue hosting talk shows, though he may now have to do it through other means, which are not part of the sale.
Anyone will be able to bid for the assets owned by Infowars under the terms of the sale.
“It’s very cut and dry that the assets of Free Speech Systems, the website, the equipment, the shopping cart, all that, can be sold,” Jones said on a recent show. “And they know full well that there are a bunch of patriot buyers, and then the operation can ease on.”
In a statement on the auction order, Christopher Mattei, one of the lawyers representing the Sandy Hook families, said this was a “significant step forward” to holding Jones accountable for his actions and lies.
“Alex Jones will no longer own or control the company he built,” Mattei said in a statement Tuesday. “This brings the families closer to their goal of holding him accountable for the harm he has caused.”