The End Of Infowars | JS Latest News
Infowars, the far-right conspiracy theory network that thrived on lies, met its demise on Friday after losing its battle against the truth. It was 27 years old.
The network’s downfall came nearly four years after its founder, Alex Jones, was ordered by a court to pay approximately $1 billion to several families who lost loved ones in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. Jones had falsely claimed that the shooting was staged and that the victims were crisis actors.
A judge ruled last year that Infowars could be sold to help pay the families, which included studio equipment and the Infowars brand name. Despite attempts by satirical news outlet The Onion to gain control of the brand, the website was ultimately taken down after a court-appointed receiver stopped paying rent and utilities for the studio space.
Jones, defiant in the face of the ruling, insisted that the trials were rigged and accused the Democrats of targeting him. However, the families of the victims sought justice and accountability for the harm caused by Jones’ lies.
One of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting was 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, whose father, Neil Heslin, testified in court about the abuse his family endured because of Jones and Infowars. Heslin emphasized the importance of holding Jones accountable to prevent further spread of falsehoods.
As Heslin sought justice, Jones continued to broadcast from his Infowars studio, perpetuating conspiracy theories and attacking his critics. Despite the network’s demise, the damage caused by Infowars’ toxic content and lies will have a lasting impact on the victims and their families.
The rise and fall of Infowars serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of spreading misinformation and the consequences of profiting from deceit. The network’s legacy will be remembered for the harm it caused to innocent individuals and the role it played in perpetuating dangerous falsehoods. The image link is given below:
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In 2018, Gilmore sued Jones for defamation, alleging he received death threats and was physically accosted on the street following the Infowars broadcast. Jones admitted liability for defamation in 2022 and paid $50,000 to Gilmore.
Marcel Fontaine, a Boston resident, was falsely accused in an Infowars article of being the school shooter who left 17 people dead in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. In 2022, as part of a defamation suit Fontaine brought against the platform, longtime Infowars employee Kit Daniels cried during a deposition as he expressed regret for misidentifying Fontaine to millions of listeners based on a 4chan post he saw. The lawsuit stalled amid Jones’ bankruptcy case, and Fontaine died in a house fire last year.
It was the lies Jones spread about the victims and families of those who died in the Sandy Hook shooting that ultimately sealed the fate of Infowars. JS was the first to report in 2018 on lawsuits against Jones and Infowars brought by the parents of children killed in the shooting. Mark Bankston of the Texas law firm Farrar & Ball represented the parents in the initial lawsuit, along with Fontaine in his case against Jones.
Among the falsehoods posted on the Infowars website was a headline that screamed: “FBI SAYS NO ONE KILLED AT SANDY HOOK.”
During a November 2016 broadcast, Jones said that if “children were lost at Sandy Hook, my heart goes out to each and every one of those parents.”
But he didn’t stop there: “The only problem is, I’ve watched a lot of soap operas, and I’ve seen actors before. And I know when I’m watching a movie and when I’m watching something real.”
A former Infowars employee said in a video deposition that he was laughed at after repeatedly warning staff to stop publishing falsehoods.
Bankston, who represented Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis’ parents in their 2022 Texas trial, reminded jurors — and Jones himself — of the distinction between free speech and lies.
“Speech is free,” Bankston said. “But lies you have to pay for.”
A Child’s Grave Desecrated
Jones’ second trial took place later that year in Connecticut, just 20 minutes from where the deadly school shooting happened. Families broke down in tears during five weeks of testimony as they described the deaths of their loved ones and the additional nightmare that Jones unleashed.
Parent Robbie Parker, whose 6-year-old daughter Emilie was killed, said threats poured in after Jones called Parker a “crisis actor” after he gave a nervous laugh at a press conference. Parker said he found himself up late at night, desperately trying to delete vile messages from extremists shared on a memorial page for Emilie.
Mark and Jackie Barden, whose 7-year-old son Daniel was killed, said they received a letter from someone who claimed to have urinated on the child’s grave. In another letter, someone threatened to dig up Daniel’s grave to prove he didn’t exist.
Parents Ian and Nicole Hockley, whose 6-year-old son Dylan was killed, testified about how far Infowars’ acolytes would go to compound their trauma.
“I got sent pictures of dead kids because [harassers said] as a ‘crisis actor,’ I didn’t know what dead kids looked like,” Nicole Hockley testified.
The abuse never stopped. One morning in the first week of the second trial, as Sandy Hook families walked into the Connecticut courthouse, they passed Infowars stickers that someone had plastered on a nearby traffic sign and — more fittingly — a trash can.
No Remorse
Jones used one of his final days on Infowars to target the Sandy Hook families.
“All a big setup,” Jones said of the shooting in an April 22 broadcast. “Because they killed those kids with professional shooters, and that’s what they don’t want coming out. It’s in the police reports. There was a pile of kids in the bathroom in a pyramid with no blood.”
Jones also continued to hawk supplements and merchandise, all while making himself out to be a martyr. He promised that The Onion will be “in deep shit” for trying to take his platform.
“Just because you’re wearing my shirt, don’t mean you’re me,” a shirtless Jones said during an April 20 broadcast.
Jones may have lost Infowars, but he’s unlikely to disappear. Alex Jones will continue to have platforms on X and Rumble, along with a new website where he is promoting products and seeking donations from supporters. Despite his previous plans to expand his studio and broadcast for 20 hours a day, Jones may need to find new talent as Owen Shroyer, a long-time Infowars figure, left the network in September following tensions with Jones. The departure took Jones by surprise, leading to a heated on-air confrontation where Jones called Shroyer a “snake,” “rat,” and other derogatory names.
Furthermore, Jones and former President Trump recently ended their friendship after Jones criticized Trump’s decision to start a war with Iran in February. Trump took to Truth Social in early April to target Jones and other right-wing figures who opposed the war, delivering a scathing rebuke of Infowars and Jones specifically. Trump referred to Jones as “Bankrupt Alex Jones” and criticized him for his controversial remarks about the Sandy Hook shooting victims.
Despite these challenges, Jones continues to operate on various platforms and promote his content to his followers. It remains to be seen how these recent developments will impact the future of Infowars and Jones’ influence in the media landscape. following sentence using different words:
Original: “The cat ran quickly across the street.”
Rewritten: “The feline swiftly dashed through the road.”
