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Alex Jones: Master of Conspiracy Theories 41

Alex Jones’ 5 most

disturbing and ridiculous

conspiracy theories

by Tucker Higgins

Key Points

• After years of public pressure, conspiracy
theorist Alex Jones was largely barred from
the world’s largest social media platforms
last August 2018.
• Jones has spent more than two decades
developing his own eccentric, often harmful,
occasionally dangerous brand of shock-
based storytelling, which he and his
followers pass off as truth-telling.
• Now, however, Jones, 44, faces a reckoning,
as many of the platforms that drove his “They tell you about the stuff you know king creature come to kill America.”
success — most notably YouTube — have about, GPS and all of that. But when it comes to Jones took his attacks up a notch a year
finally cut him off. controlling the weather, they don’t. But it’s in all later.
the trade publications, the university “Everyone’s so scared of Mueller, they’d
After years of public pressure, conspiracy publications. It’s all there, and that’s my let Mueller rape kids in front of people, which he
theorist Alex Jones was recently largely barred frustration,” he said. did,” Jones said in July. He hedged the claim
from the world’s largest social media platforms. later in the broadcast, noting that “the word is he
Jones has spent more than two decades Chemicals in the water are doesn’t have sex with kids, he just controls it all.
developing his own kind of shocking and turning frogs gay Can you imagine being a monster like that?”
dangerous brand of storytelling, including Jones then threatened to “take down” the
calling the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks an “inside former Marine, who is now leading the
One of Jones’ most notorious conspiracy
job” perpetrated by the U.S. government. He investigation into Russian interference in the
theories is that the government is using
and his followers pass off these narratives as 2016 election.
chemicals in order to turn people gay, using a
truth-telling, despite lacking sufficient evidence. “That’s a demon I will take down, or I’ll
mysterious “gay bomb” devised by the
Thanks to sales of his dubious nutritional die trying,” he said. “So that’s it. It’s going to
Pentagon.
products, Jones has turned his venture into a happen, we’re going to walk out in the square,
“The reason there’s so many gay people
lucrative business model, earning more than $20 politically, at high noon, and he’s going to find
now is because it’s a chemical warfare
million in revenues annually in recent years, out whether he makes a move man, make the
operation, and I have the government documents
according to court documents. move first, and then it’s going to happen. It’s not
where they said they’re going to encourage
Now, however, Jones, 45, faces a a joke. It’s not a game. It’s the real world.
homosexuality with chemicals so that people
reckoning, as many of the platforms that drove Politically. You’re going to get it, or I’m going to
don’t have children,” he said on his broadcast in
his success — most notably YouTube — have die trying, bitch.”
2010, according to NBC News.
cut him off. The media emperor who President That claim led to increased pressure on
Five years later, the theory took a turn. In
Donald Trump once said had an “amazing” social media companies, particularly Facebook,
a rant that has since become a meme and a line
reputation faces the largest setback of his career. to take down Jones’ pages.
of t-shirts, Jones said he didn’t like the
Below are five of his most outrageous
government “putting chemicals in the water that
and disturbing theories. The Sandy Hook shooting was
turn the friggin’ frogs gay.”
“The majority of frogs in most areas of staged
The government has ‘weather
the United States are now gay,” Jones said in
weapons’ 2017. The claim was without evidence. One of the few conspiracy theories that has led
In 1994, a government lab did request to real consequences for Jones is his claim that
Jones doesn’t just believe that secretive forces funds to pursue the development of a weapon the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary
are at work to control people’s minds: He has that would turn enemy combatants gay, though School that left 26 dead, including 20 children
also warned, for years, about government efforts the project was quickly shelved and no such between six and seven years old, was a hoax that
to control the weather to wreak havoc on weapon was developed. A 2013 report in employed so-called “crisis actors.”
unsuspecting citizens. Gizmodo notes that the same lab also requested Jones claimed that the shooting was
In a 2013 broadcast, Jones warned that funding for “bad-breath bombs, flatulence “completely fake” and staged in order to
“of course there’s weather weapon stuff going bombs and bombs designed to attract swarms of promote more restrictive gun control policies.
on,” according to a transcript produced by stinging insects to enemy combatants,” noting Earlier this year, families of children who were
Media Matters, a left-leaning watchdog that “the gay bomb is certainly the most novel.” killed in the shooting sued Jones for defamation,
organization. “We had floods in Texas like specifically citing comments he made in an
fifteen years ago, killed thirty-something people Robert Mueller is a demon, and April 2017 broadcast titled “Sandy Hook
in one night. Turned out it was the Air Force.” also a pedophile Vampires Exposed.”
Jones acknowledged the existence of Eight families have sued Jones, claiming
“natural” tornadoes, but insisted that a May that his reports on the Sandy Hook massacre
Jones has reserved some of his harshest vitriol
2013 tornado that killed two dozen people and have caused them immense personal pain and
for Trump’s enemies, in particular special
left more than 200 injured may have been led his followers to harass them.
counsel Robert Mueller.
orchestrated by the government, which he said After originally calling the shooting a
“He is now the king of the swamp,”
“can create and steer groups of tornadoes.” “hoax,” Jones later said that he believed it
Jones said of Mueller in a broadcast in the fall of
In a broadcast this past summer, Jones “really happened” but insisted that the families
2017, according to Media Matters. After briefly
maintained that “there is weather-modification suing him were agents of the Democratic Party.
claiming that the late Sen. John McCain, R-
going on.”
Ariz., was the real leader of the Democratic
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Party, Jones said Mueller was “the literal swamp