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Infowars is dead. Kind of. For now

FILE - Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks to the media after arriving at the federal courthouse for a hearing in front of a bankruptcy judge, June 14, 2024, in Houston.
David J. Phillip
/
AP
FILE - Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks to the media after arriving at the federal courthouse for a hearing in front of a bankruptcy judge, June 14, 2024, in Houston.

"There's a war on for your mind." That's what Austin-based conspiracy theorist Alex Jones told his listeners, readers and acolytes for decades. Now, it seems that war is over.

Jones' Infowars platform shutdown quietly over the weekend after a court-appointed receiver refused to continue paying for the outlet's operating expenses. The same weekend, The Onion launched its Infowars-branded satirical takedown of Jones as his bankruptcy case lingers in state court.

Families of the Sandy Hook school shooting successfully sued Jones for defamation in Texas and Connecticut courts, forcing him to pay nearly $1.5 billion in damages. But, so far, plaintiffs' attorneys say Jones has managed to dodge paying anything to Sandy Hook families.

The Onion tried in 2023 to take over the site, only for a court to block it. Last month, the satirical publication announced it had a plan to acquire Infowars again, only for a court to side with Jones and stall that takeover.

Last week, Mark Bankston, an attorney for plaintiffs, said the yearslong slog in courts has been frustrating for Sandy Hook families.

"Everything should be done," Bankston said. "It's a frustrating element in this country that the legal system in general is much too friendly to individuals with wealth who want to seek to avoid paying that wealth to people that they've injured. That's a big problem in this country, and it's not isolated to Alex Jones."

Over the weekend, Jones launched a new endeavor, the Alex Jones Network, continuing his controversial brand of broadcasting under that banner. Jones said he did not own the network, but that he was news director, telling his legal foes to "piss up a rope."

"The Onion failed to get Infowars for the second time in a year and a half, but the receiver told us to get out of the building by midnight on the 30th," Jones said. "So they're turning the place off."

As Jones continued broadcasting, The Onion teased what a post-Alex Jones Infowars could look like, with comedian Tim Heidecker parodying Jones' gravelly baritone in a video in which he claims to drink blood in a Satanic ritual and states that he could turn listeners' urine into gold.

Copyright 2026 KUT News

Andrew Weber is a freelance reporter and associate editor for KUT News. A graduate of St. Edward's University with a degree in English, Andrew has previously interned with The Texas Tribune, The Austin American-Statesman and KOOP Radio.