Alex Jones asks the Supreme Court to block the class action defamation ruling

WASHINGTON — Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to block a nearly $1.5 billion defamation judgment imposed over his false claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.

In a new filing, Jones said the court’s immediate intervention is necessary because his website, InfoWars, is about to be turned over to satirical news site The Onion to help fund payments to family members of Sandy Hook victims.

If the case is not stayed, Jones’ lawyers wrote, “InfoWars will be seized by its ideological enemy and destroyed.”

The Sandy Hook tragedy occurred in December 2012, when a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six adults at the school in Newtown, Connecticut.

The victims’ families sued and won a huge judgment in Connecticut state court.

Jones, who owns InfoWars through his company Free Speech Systems, later lost his attempts in state court to appeal the ruling. It is also seeking bankruptcy protection.

The Onion failed in a previous attempt to acquire InfoWars through a bankruptcy auction, but Jones’ attorney said a new attempt is underway in Texas state court.

His lawyers asked the Supreme Court to postpone the ruling while the judges consider his appeal. The court is scheduled to discuss his appeal in private on Friday.