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Alex Jones’ Infowars to be auctioned off to pay Sandy Hook families
Alex Jones’ Infowars media business can be auctioned off starting next month so the far-right conspiracy theorist can make payments to the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting as part of a $1.5 billion settlement, a Houston judge has ruled.
Infowars’ assets, including its social media accounts, copyrighted material and trademarks owned by parent company Free Speech Systems, will be liquidated in November. Additional Infowars assets, including studio equipment, would be sold at a later auction.
In a court hearing Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said he would approve the sale, but that he must first change a previous order to make clear that the trustee overseeing Jones’ personal bankruptcy case controls all of Free Speech Systems’ assets.
Jones and the company filed for bankruptcy in 2022 after losing defamation and emotional distress lawsuits by Sandy Hook families after he repeatedly called the Connecticut school shooting a hoax staged by “crisis actors.” Adam Lanza killed 26 people, including 20 children, in the shooting, in Newtown, Connecticut.
The outcome of the Infowars auctions could determine Jones’ broadcasting fate. He has vowed to continue hosting talk shows and could do so through a new website or his personal social media accounts, which are not part of the sale.
Anyone can bid for Infowars’ assets under the terms of the sale, whether supporters or detractors.
“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 recently on a show. “And they know full well that there are a bunch of patriot buyers, and then the operation can ease on.”
Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for Sandy Hook families, called the judge’s auction order “a significant step forward” in holding Jones to account for his 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.”
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Mark Robinson, North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate, treated for burns, campaign says
Embattled Republican North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson — whose gubernatorial bid has been rattled by allegations that he previously posted racist and sexually explicit comments online — was hospitalized with burns Friday, his campaign said.
Mike Lonergan, a campaign spokesperson, told CBS News in a statement late Friday night that the 56-year-old Robinson was “currently being treated for burns following an incident at a campaign event in Mt. Airy.”
Lonergan added that Robinson was in “good spirits,” but did not provide any further details on his condition or the circumstances that prompted.
A source close to the campaign told CBS News that Robinson had been hospitalized.
This follows a bombshell CNN report last week which found that Robinson posted inappropriate comments to the message board of a pornographic website between 2008 and 2012, often under the name of “black NAZI.”
Since the report’s publication on Sept. 19, Robinson has seen several campaign staffers resign, including his campaign manager, general consultant and senior adviser, finance director, and deputy campaign manager. He has also appeared to lose support among the Republican leadership.
Robinson has not appeared in the two North Carolina rallies Trump has held since the CNN report. And when asked Thursday by reporters if he would pull his endorsement for Robinson, Trump responded, “I don’t know the situation.”
When asked Tuesday if Republicans should halt support for Robinson’s campaign, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell responded, “It won’t surprise to you know I’m happy that there’s not a Senate race in North Carolina.”
Robinson, however, has so far vowed to stay in the race.
“This is an election about policies, not personalities,” he wrote on social media Wednesday. “Now is not the time for intra-party squabbling and nonsense.”
Kaia Hubbard and
contributed to this report.
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