Infowars, the far-right conspiracy theory network that profited from lies, died Friday after losing its battle against the truth. It was 27.
The death comes nearly four years after disinformation merchant Alex Jones, founder of Infowars, was court-ordered to pay roughly $1 billion to several families whose loved ones were killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, after lying that they were “crisis actors” and that the shooting — which left 20 children and six adults dead — was “staged.”
A judge ruled last year that Infowars could be sold to help pay the families. That includes studio equipment like cameras, desks and microphones, along with the Infowars brand name. While satirical news outlet The Onion continues to wrestle for control of the Infowars brand, the website itself was taken down at midnight on Friday after a court-appointed receiver stopped paying rent and utilities for the studio space.
At the time of last year’s ruling, Jones remained defiant and said the two jury trials he lost were “rigged.”
“Here’s just a little reminder, though: They don’t want money in their fake, rigged, Sandy Hook trials run by Democrats,” Jones said on an Infowars broadcast at the time. “No, they want me off the air.”
