Alex Jones sues The Onion and Sandy Hook families over Infowars buyout
Houston, Texas - Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is now suing satirical news website The Onion and families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting as he tries desperately to keep his Infowars show.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, Jones argued the rules of a recent auction held to sell off his ownership in Free Speech Systems (FSP) – the parent company of Infowars – were changed at the last minute in The Onion's favor.
Global Tetrahedron – the parent company of The Onion – won the auction by offering $1.75 million in cash, plus a "credit" from the families, which the suit described as a "flagrantly non-compliant Frankenstein bid" and the "definition of collusive bidding."
Jones and his legal team further argued that a higher bid of $3.5 million from First United American Companies – which operates Jones' line of online nutritional supplements – should win the auction.
The suit comes as Jones owes $1.5 billion in legal damages to the families for repeatedly claiming that the 2012 shooting was staged by the US government and that the victims and families were "crisis actors."
Jones has been forced to begin liquidating his assets, and in September, Judge Christopher Lopez approved the auction.
Per NPR, US bankruptcy trustee Christopher Murray, who is overseeing the auction, filed a response and described Jones' effort as "a disappointed bidder's improper attempt to influence an otherwise fair and open auction process."
Cover photo: Zach Gibson / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP