What Is Infowars? Sandy Hook Lawsuits, Bankruptcy, and The Onion

Infowars was a far-right media platform founded by broadcaster and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in 1999, built around a website, a syndicated radio show, and streaming video out of Austin, Texas. For roughly 25 years it was one of the most influential outlets for conspiracy theories and disinformation in American political life, funded largely by dietary supplement sales to Jones’ audience. It went off the air on April 30, 2026, after a court-appointed receiver shut down its Austin headquarters as part of collection efforts on nearly $1.5 billion in defamation judgments owed to families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.¹

What Infowars Broadcast

The platform’s worldview centered on the claim that secretive “globalist” elites were plotting to destroy American sovereignty and impose a one-world government. From that premise, Jones and his staff built false narratives around nearly every major news event of the past two decades.

Among the most prominent claims Infowars pushed:

That the September 11, 2001, attacks were an “inside job” carried out through “controlled demolitions” by the U.S. government.²
That the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre of 20 children and six staff members was a “giant hoax” staged by “crisis actors” to justify gun control.³
Pizzagate, the baseless claim that Hillary Clinton and other Democrats ran a child sex trafficking ring out of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria.²
Birther claims that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
That Donald Trump actually won the 2020 presidential election; Jones was an active participant in the “Stop the Steal” movement.³
That the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing was “staged by the FBI” and the 2011 shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was a “government mind control operation.”³

These claims had consequences beyond the courtroom. Parents of Sandy Hook victims testified that they received harassment and death threats from people who believed Jones’ hoax narrative. After Infowars amplified Pizzagate, a listener walked into the targeted pizzeria and fired a rifle.³

The platform’s political reach expanded sharply during Trump’s 2016 campaign. Trump called into Jones’ show in late 2015, and analysts said the appearance signaled to conspiracy-minded voters that Trump was their candidate. Trump later repeated several Jones claims about Obama and Clinton on the trail.⁴

How Infowars Made Money

Infowars operated less like a traditional media company and more like a direct-to-consumer supplement retailer with a talk show attached. Its parent company, Free Speech Systems, was formed in 2007, and roughly 80 percent of its revenue came from selling dietary supplements such as “Brain Force Plus” and “Super Male Vitality,” marketed directly to Jones’ audience during broadcasts.⁵

Financial records introduced during the Sandy Hook trials showed the Infowars store generated $165 million in revenue over a three-year period beginning in September 2015.⁶ Court evidence showed the parent company earned $64 million in a single year from supplements and survivalist gear, with daily revenue reaching $800,000 in 2018. A forensic economist who testified at trial estimated the combined value of Jones and his businesses at between $135 million and $270 million.⁷

At its peak around 2016, Jones’ show was syndicated on more than 150 radio stations through the Genesis Communications Network, the website drew over 40 million monthly page views, and Jones’ YouTube videos were watched five million times a month.² Sales data presented at trial showed that on days Jones promoted specific conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook, store sales went up.⁶

The 2018 Deplatforming

On August 6, 2018, Apple, Facebook, YouTube, and Spotify removed Infowars content in a coordinated wave, citing violations of policies on hate speech, harassment, and the glorification of violence.⁸ Facebook removed four pages after finding dehumanizing language about transgender people, Muslims, and immigrants. YouTube terminated Jones’ accounts. Apple pulled five Infowars podcasts from iTunes. LinkedIn, Pinterest, and MailChimp followed the same day.⁹

Twitter suspended Jones for seven days in August 2018 and permanently banned him and the Infowars account the following month, citing abusive behavior after a live-streamed confrontation with a CNN reporter.⁹ Jones called it a “Mega Purge.” Court evidence introduced later in the Sandy Hook trials indicated the bans did not significantly hurt company revenue.³

The Sandy Hook Lawsuits That Ended It

Relatives of children and staff killed at Sandy Hook, along with an FBI agent who responded to the scene, sued Jones in Connecticut and Texas.

In the Connecticut case, a judge issued a default ruling against Jones and Free Speech Systems in late 2021 after Jones repeatedly failed to comply with court orders to turn over evidence.¹⁰ With liability established, the 2022 trial focused on damages. A six-person jury awarded $964 million in compensatory damages, and a judge added $473 million in punitive damages, bringing the Connecticut total to roughly $1.4 billion.¹¹ In October 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Jones’ appeal, leaving the judgment intact.¹²

In a separate Texas case, a jury ordered Jones to pay roughly $49 million to the parents of Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis.³ During that trial, Jones’ attorney accidentally sent two years of Jones’ cell phone data to opposing counsel, contradicting his testimony that he had no private communications about Sandy Hook.⁷ Presiding Judge Maya Guerra Gamble admonished Jones from the bench: “It seems absurd to instruct you again that you must tell the truth while you testify. Yet here I am.”¹³

Bankruptcy, Receivership, and The Onion

Jones filed for personal bankruptcy in late 2022. Free Speech Systems filed its own Chapter 11 case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.¹⁴ In June 2024, Jones moved to convert his personal case to a Chapter 7 liquidation, and the bankruptcy court ruled the Sandy Hook debt was not dischargeable, finding it resulted from Jones’ “willful and malicious injury” of the families. The Free Speech Systems bankruptcy was dismissed the same month, letting families pursue collection directly in state court.¹⁵

A judge authorized the sale of nearly 50 firearms, 19 watches (including a Rolex valued at about $25,000), a cryogenic chamber, jewelry, cars, and boats, with proceeds placed in escrow.¹⁶ Jones’ Texas ranch, valued at about $2.8 million, was marked for sale; his primary home was exempt.¹⁷ Jones held roughly $9 million in personal assets against nearly $1.5 billion in judgments.

In August 2025, Judge Guerra Gamble appointed Gregory Milligan of HMP Advisory Holdings as receiver to take possession of all Free Speech Systems assets and oversee liquidation, authorizing him to change locks and use law enforcement to prevent interference.¹⁸

The satirical publication The Onion had won a bankruptcy auction for the Infowars assets in November 2024, backed by the Sandy Hook families, with Everytown for Gun Safety signed on as the launch advertiser.¹⁹ The Onion’s $1.75 million cash offer was lower than a competing $3.5 million bid from a Jones-affiliated company, but the families agreed to forgo part of their recovery to benefit other creditors. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez rejected the sale in December 2024, ruling the auction process was “flawed” and lacked transparency.²⁰

In April 2026, The Onion reached a new agreement with the receiver, licensing the Infowars domain, brand, and intellectual property for $81,000 per month over six months, with an option to extend and a signed agreement to purchase the full assets once a judicial stay expires.²¹ The plan is to turn Infowars into a comedy network and parody site, with comedian Tim Heidecker as creative director playing a character who mocks Jones’ on-air persona. Revenue is intended to flow to the Sandy Hook families.²²

Jones filed an emergency motion to block the deal, arguing The Onion intended to “destroy the value” of his company. On April 29, 2026, a Texas appeals court issued a temporary stay pausing the transfer.²³ A further hearing was scheduled for May 28, 2026.²⁴

What Replaced It

On April 30, 2026, Jones broadcast what he called his “final transmission from the studio” after the receiver stopped funding operating expenses and ordered staff to vacate the Austin headquarters by midnight.¹ The Infowars website went offline the following morning, displaying an “Off Air” message.²⁴

Jones quickly launched a new venture called the Alex Jones Network, broadcasting through AlexJonesLive.com and on X and Rumble. He holds the title of “news director” and says he does not own the new network.²⁵ As of mid-2026, Jones has not paid any portion of the nearly $1.5 billion in judgments, according to the Sandy Hook families’ attorneys.²²

1
Bloomberg. Alex Jones Announces Shutdown of Infowars Conspiracy Platform
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Britannica. Alex Jones
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NPR. How Alex Jones Helped Mainstream Conspiracy Theories Into American Life
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NBC News. Alex Jones Lost Infowars New Era Right Wing Media
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WSLS. Who Is Alex Jones
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Rolling Stone. Alex Jones Infowars Store $165 Million
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BBC. Alex Jones Sandy Hook Trial
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NPR. YouTube Apple and Facebook Ban Infowars
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First Amendment Watch. Alex Jones Removed or Banned From Major Content Platforms
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PBS. Supreme Court Rejects Alex Jones Appeal
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CBS News. Supreme Court Alex Jones Defamation Sandy Hook
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NPR. Supreme Court Alex Jones Defamation Judgment
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Reuters. 7 Key Moments Alex Jones Sandy Hook Defamation Trial
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PBS. Alex Jones Seeks Permission to Convert Bankruptcy Into Liquidation
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Willkie. Willkie Secures Dismissal of Bankruptcy Case of Alex Jones’s Media Company
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Bloomberg Law. Alex Jones Approved to Sell Guns Boats Cars to Fund Bankruptcy
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VOA News. Conspiracy Theorist Jones Personal Assets Being Sold
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Courthouse News. Texas Judge Orders Transfer of Alex Jones Infowars Assets to Court-Appointed Receiver
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AP. Satire Publication The Onion Buys Alex Jones Infowars at Auction
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NPR. Infowars Alex Jones The Onion Bankruptcy Judge
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NPR. The Onion Satirical Takeover Infowars New Plan
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CNN. The Onion Alex Jones Infowars Tim Heidecker
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WTTW. The Onion’s Executive Editor on Infowars Plans
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Variety. Infowars Offline The Onion Legal Battle Alex Jones
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KUT. Infowars Dead Alex Jones The Onion Austin TX Lawsuit