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How Alex Jones mainstreamed conspiracy theories Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones
must pay millions in damages for spreading lies about the Sandy Hook school
massacre. But even if the penalties shut down Infowars, his influence will
remain.
Special Series


UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION


HOW ALEX JONES HELPED MAINSTREAM CONSPIRACY THEORIES BECOME PART OF AMERICAN
LIFE

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August 6, 20225:00 AM ET
Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday

Shannon Bond

Twitter

HOW ALEX JONES HELPED MAINSTREAM CONSPIRACY THEORIES BECOME PART OF AMERICAN
LIFE

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A jury has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay millions of dollars for
spreading lies about the Sandy Hook school massacre. But his influence in
right-wing media and politics remains strong. Matt York/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Matt York/AP


A jury has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay millions of dollars for
spreading lies about the Sandy Hook school massacre. But his influence in
right-wing media and politics remains strong.

Matt York/AP

Name a traumatic news event in recent decades, and it's almost certain Alex
Jones has claimed it didn't happen — or not the way you think it did.

The Boston Marathon bombing in 2013? Staged by the FBI.

The shooting of Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords in 2011? A government mind
control operation.

The September 11th terrorist attacks? An inside job.

All lies.


NATIONAL


THE FATHER OF A SANDY HOOK VICTIM SAYS ALEX JONES HAS MADE HIS LIFE A 'LIVING
HELL'

The conspiracy theorist and radio host was confronted with his track record of
fabulism this week in an Austin, Texas, courtroom. He was on trial to determine
how much he should pay for defaming the parents of a first grader killed at
Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, after years of falsely claiming that no
children died and the families were "crisis actors" in a "giant hoax" designed
to take away guns.

"Would you agree with me that there is not a mass tragedy, mass bombing, mass
shooting that has occurred in America in the past 15 years that you have not
attached the words 'false flag' to?" Mark Bankston, the parents' attorney, asked
Jones.



"I have asked the question because I believe a lot of things are provocateur or
allowed to happen," Jones replied.

The jury ordered Jones to pay $49.3 million in damages to Scarlett Lewis and
Neil Heslin, the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, for the mental anguish
caused by his lies about Sandy Hook.


JONES HAS A HISTORY OF PROLIFIC FABULISM

Jones got his start in public access broadcasting in Austin, Texas, in the
1990s. From his early days on air, he spouted conspiracy theories about the
siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, and the bombing of the
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

When his wild claims got him fired from a local radio station, he founded
Infowars in 1999 and started broadcasting over the internet and in radio
syndication.

After the September 11th attacks, Jones surged to fame as a "truther," claiming
the Bush administration was behind the tragedy.


AUTHOR INTERVIEWS


SANDY HOOK USHERED IN NEW ERA OF CONSPIRACY AND LIES, AUTHOR FINDS

As his audience grew, Jones popularized a vocabulary for pernicious doubt: not
just that officials and media are hiding the truth, but that tragic events are
being engineered for nefarious purposes.

"He's at least a catalyst of those prevailing narratives that follow almost
every newsworthy tragedy, whether it's a mass shooting or otherwise," said Sara
Aniano, a disinformation researcher at the Anti-Defamation League.

Jones's response to Sandy Hook was perhaps the most egregious example. For
years, Infowars aired falsehoods that the tragedy was invented and implied the
families of the murdered children were lying.



That created a template to cast doubt on subsequent mass shootings.

"A lot of people who share these theories that those were staged by the
government for gun control reasons or that the children and parents are crisis
actors will reference Sandy Hook as the basis of that conclusion," Aniano said.


NATIONAL


ALEX JONES CONCEDES THAT THE SANDY HOOK ATTACK WAS '100% REAL'

The lies on Infowars had real-world consequences.

At the trial, Lewis and Heslin testified about the harassment and death threats
they've received from people who believe Jones.

"When you say those things, there's a fringe of society that believe you, that
are actually dangerous," Lewis said in emotional testimony addressed directly to
Jones.


INFOWARS PROFITS FROM "PREACHING APOCALYPSE"

Infowars doesn't just disseminate harmful lies; it profits from them.


INVESTIGATIONS


ALEX JONES STILL SELLS SUPPLEMENTS ON AMAZON DESPITE BANS FROM OTHER PLATFORMS

According to a forensic economist called by the parents' lawyers, Infowars'
parent company raked in $64 million in sales of supplements, survivalist gear
and other products last year.

The plaintiffs also presented evidence from Jones's own cell phone showing in
2018, Infowars was making as much as $800,000 a day.

The combined net worth of Jones and Infowars is between $135 million and $270
million, the economist estimated.


SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS


FOR SOME ANTI-VACCINE ADVOCATES, MISINFORMATION IS PART OF A BUSINESS

Jones is not the first person to grift off conspiracy theories, but Infowars
harnessed the power of the internet to do so on a massive scale — a model that's
been imitated by anti-vaccine advocates, COVID-19 deniers and champions of
baseless claims that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

"You preach apocalypse and then you sell stuff that can help you in an
apocalypse," said Yunkang Yang, a communications professor at Texas A&M.

Enlarge this image

Jones inside the Georgia State Capitol during a "Stop the Steal" rally against
the results of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 18, 2020 in Atlanta, Ga.
Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images


Jones inside the Georgia State Capitol during a "Stop the Steal" rally against
the results of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 18, 2020 in Atlanta, Ga.

Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images


TRUMP AND JONES FIND COMMON GROUND IN CONSPIRACISM

Jones has also left a mark on conservative politics.

When Barack Obama was president, Infowars and Donald Trump both promoted the
racist lie that he was not an American citizen.


NATIONAL


THE JAN. 6 COMMITTEE IS ASKING FOR DATA FROM ALEX JONES' PHONE, A LAWYER SAYS

Infowars was also a big spreader of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which
falsely accused Hillary Clinton and other Democrats of running a child sex
trafficking ring out of a Washington, DC pizzeria. Days after Jones urged his
audience to investigate, a man, who told the New York Times he listened to
Jones's radio show, entered the restaurant and fired a rifle. (Jones later
apologized to the restaurant owner for promoting the lie.)

In late 2015, ahead of Republican primaries, Trump called into Infowars for a
mutually fawning interview with Jones.


MEDIA


RADIO CONSPIRACY THEORIST CLAIMS EAR OF TRUMP, PUSHES 'PIZZAGATE' FICTIONS

Trump "gave those folks who are conspiracy theorists signals that he was their
guy and they had a candidate who was a conspiracy theorist for the first time,"
said Melissa Ryan, CEO of consulting firm CARD Strategies, which tracks
disinformation and extremism.

"Trump won by being willing to appeal to this base of supporters that other
people in the party would have kept at arm's length," she said, "lest they be
called out for having extremist views."

The early years of Trump's presidency may have been the peak of Jones's
mainstream influence. By 2018, pressure mounted on tech companies to crack down
on hate speech and harmful falsehoods. Jones and Infowars were kicked off
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Apple's app store.



That curbed his ability to reach a wider audience, but according to evidence
presented in court, he's still making plenty of money. The forensic economist
called by the plaintiffs said Jones's deplatforming has not dented his revenues.


LAW


INFOWARS FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY IN THE FACE OF LAWSUITS OVER SANDY HOOK SHOOTING
DENIAL

Now, Jones and Infowars are facing multiple trials that could put them on the
hook for further damages to the victims of his lies.

Jones is trying to shield his assets through bankruptcy, but has vowed to keep
Infowars alive.

But even if Jones were to go silent and Infowars went out of business tomorrow,
the seeds of doubt he so effectively planted are flourishing.

"Conspiracy is a permanent part of our political and cultural discourse now,"
Ryan said. "I think you can say that Alex Jones was an innovator in that."

 * disinformation
 * infowars
 * Alex Jones
 * conspiracy theories

 * Facebook
 * Twitter
 * Flipboard
 * Email





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