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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Alex Woodward

Steve Bannon calls The Onion ‘deep state gestapo’ as he and Alex Jones watch Infowars be taken offline

Alex Jones watched in real-time as his Infowars website and streaming video platform were taken offline hours after satirical news publication The Onion won a bidding for the bankrupt conspiracy theorist’s operations.

Jones, broadcasting from his studio in Texas on November 14, was joined by formerly incarcerated Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon as Infowars.com was shut down.

“Force them to cut the power ... Let’s get the camera on them,” Bannon said. “Put the freaking camera on them. … Let’s see the polish on those jackboots. … They’re nothing but gestapo. It’s the administrative state and the deep state gestapo.”

Jones and Bannon, raging through a laundry list of deep state conspiracy theories and a belief that Jones and Infowars were targeted by Democratic officials, were broadcasting moments after The Onion and families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims announced the purchase of Infowars properties.

Sandy Hook families sued Jones for defamation after calling the massacre a hoax, prompting his chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“Elections have consequences,” Bannon said, pointing to Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election. “You’re gonna be on the business end of these consequences in the days, weeks and months ahead.”

Seconds later, Jones announced that the Infowars website was taken offline.

On his broadcast, Infowars host Harrison Smith said he would rather be shut down by “jackbooted Nazis” than the “glib” and “petulant” staff at The Onion, the long-running satirical newspaper and website, who are “very confident and condescending and looking down on us and mocking us.”

Moments later, he discovered that the platform he was streaming from had been taken offline, with a “site unavailable till further notice” message.

In his final message from Infowars, Jones thanked his crew and audience and vowed to continue broadcasting on separate streaming platforms as he pointed to his influence on the likes of Elon Musk, Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson.

“This is not a victory for the bad guys. This is them being revealed brought out in the open. The globalist tyranny forced to take the mask off,” he said. “Our ancestors are proud of us. … I will never surrender, I will never back down.”

“The journey has just begun,” he said before airing a clip from The Wolf of Wall Street, followed by an advertisement for Ultimate Hydraforce electrolyte drink mix.

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