January 6th Insurrection

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On January 6th, 2021, supporters of then President Donald Trump violently attacked the US Capitol building in an attempt to delay or prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election, leading to numerous injuries and deaths.

While Alex Jones did not enter the Capitol, he was present in DC on the 6th and attended a number of the events that frothed Trump supporters up enough to riot. He spent months making increasingly violent and apocalyptic claims on InfoWars, and absolutely bears some moral responsibility for what happened, although unlike some of his guests (e.g. Joe Biggs) he does not appear to have been directly involved in planning the attack.

Before the scope of the violence became clear, Alex made a series of grandiose claims about how he had brought people to DC and he was leading people to the Capitol at Trump's request. Once violence actually kicked off, Alex quickly ran away to the safety of his hotel, making up blatant falsehoods about the event as it happened in an attempt to downplay it. Owen Shroyer, who was with Jones during the riot, was later charged with being on Capitol grounds in violation of a prior agreement arising from his conduct during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, but neither man entered the buildings.

Ashli Babbitt, one of the insurrectionists, was shot when she attempted to rush the Speaker's Lobby through a smashed window. Alex initially lied about Babbitt's injury, claiming without basis that she was injured less severely than she actual was (at the time, he was still downplaying the violence and significance of the attack).

Episode 385 discusses InfoWars contemporaneous coverage of the attack.

Relevant Calls for Violence on Infowars

In the months before the attack, InfoWars employees and guests called for violence at the US Capitol building several times. It's likely that none of these instances rose to the level of incitement (or similar crimes), but they definitely contributed to the attack.

The following are a selection of relevant times violence has been suggested on InfoWars. These are ordered chronologically, with later entries showing a clear development towards specifically calling for violence on January 6th.

This list is also incomplete.

October 24th, 2019

While discussing news around Trump's first impeachment, Stewart Rhodes discusses the need to respond with violence if Trump is removed from office. Alex agrees. This discussion is not yet in the context of the election.

Stewart Rhodes: It's a coup to stop Trump. He was a firewall that we threw up as a last, you know, last effort to try to do this peacefully. We threw it up as a firewall and voted for Trump, put him in office, but they can't let that play out. They've got to remove him through whatever means necessary. And they're about to use the 25th Amendment. [...] It's just political warfare. But, you know, it lets us know that we've done all we can. We're abdicated in some ways for having any restraint once they do this.

Alex Jones: Well, they're going to stage terror attacks, though, to make any physical response look improper. Let's war game this when we come back.

The topic of physical violence is not substantially revisited after the commercial break. Rhodes was later convicted for seditious conspiracy for his role in planning the attack.

July 10th, 2020

Covered in 456: July 9-11, 2020.

Owen Shroyer, encouraged by Alex, suggests Trump supporters could attack politicians in DC after the election if Trump is not re-elected.

Alex Jones: This has all been a dress rehearsal for stealing the election and having big tech AI totally suppress it all.

Owen Shroyer: And then so they'll come in and they'll say, oh, Biden won, Biden won, and then Trump will say, no, Biden didn't win. Then it'll be the president versus the media. Just that'll be the playing field. You know, our question now, Alex, is we basically have three options. One option is attack. And I mean, literally, like it's time to mount up and we'll go make our own autonomous zone and we'll drag these Democrats out by the scruff of their neck.

Alex: Yeah, the autonomous zones will be inside the Capitol.

Owen: Yeah. And so that's one. We can attack.

December 15th, 2020

A caller explicitly calls for extralegal violence as the only alternative to Trump invoking the Insurrection Act. Alex responds by encouraging people to go to DC to protest and notes "I'm going to look at the size of that crowd and decide what I'm going to do". Note that this is about the protests in late December, not explicitly about January 6th yet.

Alex Jones: [Caller Name] says he's a veteran. On what's happening currently-- he wants to give his take. Go ahead, [Caller]. You're on the air from Oregon.

Caller: Hey Alex, long time listener, first time caller. Can you hear me?

Alex: I can, go ahead.

Caller: So, here's the thing. You want to save America, one of two things need to happen. President Trump needs to enact the Insurrection Act, call up the militias, call up the military, protect the White House with the Marine Reserves, start arresting, doing military tribunals, or there's blood in the streets. That's the only way to keep America free, and it's the only way to keep our country. We've already sold out and we're already down the road to China.

Alex: Well, I'll say this. There was probably a million people in D.C. three weeks ago. And there were probably 200,000 spread out everywhere when I was there last weekend. [...] We should have seen 5 million people in D.C. this weekend, not less. And again, as it becomes evident that Trump's going to have this stolen from him, we need to see 10 million. You don't see less as we begin to lose, you see more. [...] This is war, [Caller], and I totally agree with you. I'll be in D.C. on the 19th and the 20th. And, you know, I'm going to look at the size of that crowd and decide what I'm going to do. Go ahead.

Caller: Well, I love you, Alex. I've been listening to you since 2012. I used to think you were a kook, and then all this stuff started happening that you were correct about, and I was like, holy crap. But at what point -- do we have to be five minutes into getting our crap pushed in before we get violent and start physically fighting back? I mean, what does it take? We are already there. [...] You've got, it comes to a point where it's a ballot box and the jury box fell. The only thing left is a cartridge box. And...

Alex: No, I hear you, but we have to, we have to get the word out so America understands it's a Chicom takeover. We have a right to go after it. And then we need leadership that's, that's, that's going to move. And that's why I'm saying to the bureaucracy, you better get rid of Biden and the globalists politically before this goes to the next level and not let the Chicoms start a civil war on this country. I appreciate your call.

Alex (likely recognizing that this call is well beyond the pale) then starts rambling about how the Feds are always falsely accusing him of trying to incite people to assassinate Biden ("So, and you know, the feds are listening on the line while these conversations are happening."). He then pivots into demonizing trans people while making vague threats ("All you idiots who work for the government, you go ahead and do it. See how that works out for you.").

December 22nd, 2020

Owen Shroyer, hosting the Alex Jones Show, discusses his plans for the protest on January 6th with Nick Fuentes. This discussion comes in the context of the Oregon State Capitol breach the day before. During this segment, Owen speaks in support of the armed protesters:

A group of patriots in Oregon just tried to go into the state capitol that's illegally shut down.

They got assaulted by police.

Now, their biggest mistake was they didn't carry a Black Lives Matter flag.

You see, if they would have done that, the police would have taken a knee, shined their shoes, cleaned their butts, maybe even given them some money.

But no, if you have an American flag or a Trump flag, you get beat and you get arrested and told you have no rights.

Oh, by the way though, this is shocking, for the thousands of patriots that went to the state capitol in Oregon yesterday, tried to get in and were rejected, no property damage! Wow!

Nick Fuentes comes on as a guest and discusses his plans for January 6th.

Owen: So Nick, last segment with you here. What's on your mind? What's coming up on America First next?

Nick: Well, we're getting ready to go out back to Washington, D.C. on January 6th when the Electoral College votes are counted. [...] There's going to be a big march on the Capitol. And that is when they're going to be counting the votes.

It's going to be a joint session of Congress, House and the Senate, Vice President counts the votes. And we're holding out hope that there's going to be an objection from a senator and a House representative and that that might slow down the process of Biden becoming the president-elect or maybe overturn the result. I'm honestly not optimistic about it.

I think what's going to happen in January is, with a big demonstration on the 6th and a big demonstration on the 20th with the inauguration, I think what we're going to do is basically set the tone for the next four years. Which is to say, whether or not Trump is elected, if Biden gets in and he's inaugurated, we're not going to accept him as the legitimate president. And that's got to set the tone.

January 6th and January 20th, we've got to come back to D.C. Occupy the Capitol. And this is going to communicate, I think, to the country and to the establishment that Trump supporters are not going away.

You know, we're certainly not done. We're not done with 2020. And we're only getting angrier and angrier. And pretty soon that's going to metastasize in ways that the elites don't like.

Owen then further discusses Jan 6th, implying that he would like to breach the U.S. Capitol similar to what was done in Oregon.

On January 6th, I do believe there'll probably be about another million people in D.C. and we will surround the Capitol building there and it'll be totally epic.

But what I think they're going to do is, and this is just what their game plan has been the whole time, is they're just going to continue to run out the clock.

So they'll find a way to ?balk? on the 6th, they'll find a way to carry this down the road, because here's the deal.

They don't want to make an announcement that, nope, we're letting Biden steal this from you, when there's a million people surrounding the Capitol building.

I mean, I'm not predicting that anything is going to happen, but let's just say, you know, you're throwing, uh... I don't even know really what you're doing there. I mean, you're just asking for trouble. I mean, you saw what happened in Oregon. I'm not predicting that would happen, but there's a chance that would happen at the state capitol.

Now, I've already been arrested multiple times there, so, you know, I don't even know if I'm allowed on the grounds, but maybe even I'd join in on something like that.

I'd need about 500 people in case they try to come arrest me and throw me away, but this is what I'm afraid of.

December 30th, 2020

Alex opens the show explicitly denying that "overrun[ing] the Capitol" is a possibility, and displaying an awareness that InfoWars has the power to mobilize their listeners. He claims people have reached out to express concerns with InfoWars rhetoric, but brushes off concerns as "funny".

I can tell you, my friends, this January 6th, in D.C., has got the establishment scared. They've had the CIA, the FBI following me around for over a month. They've been following other people around. They've had people reach out to us. They've come and visited us and just said "Please be careful in D.C. Please be careful at these rallies. Please don't incite anyone. Please, it's so dangerous. We're so concerned."

They had a big ABC Nightly News anchor. I'll leave it at that. It's like one of their big people. Call me up and say "We're so scared. You're not planning anything?"

And I always say to them, you know, that's funny. Antifa is the one that burned down all those police stations and public housing and shot people in the head and ran checkpoints and did all that terrible stuff. [...]

And so past activity is always the best indicator of future activity. And so no, we're not planning to come to DC to overrun the Capitol. We're not planning to go to D.C. to shoot anybody or bomb anything. That's the last thing we want.

December 31th, 2020

Matt Bracken, hosting The Alex Jones Show, ends the show by explicitly calling for "patriots" to storm the capitol building on January 6th "if necessary" .

Folks, next week, we have a chance to change the course of history. It's not going to be done by Senator Hawley by himself. We can't wait for some, you know, white hat QAnon secret, you know, insiders going to fix it for us. That's not going to happen. All of that has been BS. That's been meant to keep the sheep going in line to the slaughterhouse, nice and calm. Believing in some deus ex machina that was going to pull a rabbit out of the hat and save us, we're not going to be saved by anybody above us.

We're going to only be saved by millions of Americans moving to Washington, occupying the entire area, if necessary, storming right into the Capitol. We know the rules of engagement. If you have enough people, you can push down any kind of a fence or a wall. But if not enough patriots show up, then we're just going to watch our freedom go down the drain.

If anybody thinks, and I hope on this show they don't think it, don't worry, in two years we'll win, we'll get them back. That's what they thought in Venezuela. Don't worry about this Hugo Chavez. He'll wreck the economy and then the conservatives will win the next election. No, folks.

If they can steal an election right in front of our face, on video, with, you know, hundreds of thousands of fake ballots, counterfeit ballots, fake names of people that don't exist, and we can't stop it, do you really think we'll ever have another free election in this country? Do you think they'll give us a chance to come back in two years and push the Democrats out?

Next week is a pivot in American history. Next week, we are going to stand up as free Americans, or we are just going to cringe back to our sofa, watch our country turn into a Ameri-zuela, lose our freedom [...] We're going to be nothing more than peasant slaves [...] And the only chance we have to stop this is a mass mobilization next week.

January 4th, 2021

Alex Jones speaks ominously (and very vaguely) about his plans to lead Trump supporters to the Capitol building, implying that he has non-public information about what will happen. To be clear, based on the totality of evidence, it's unlikely that Alex actually knows anything, but the potential effect on a violently inclined listener is chilling.

January 6th, 1 p.m., Capitol Building. Northeast side. I'll be leading that march. And I'm just gonna leave it at that.

But can you imagine? Jones, you will then lead the march after the president speaks. Okay. So, that's what's going on.

The enemy's watching, the enemy's listening. Notice there's total radio silence from big stream, mainstream, establishment, globalist, Decepticon media about how crazy it is that I'm involved in all this, and how they tried to keep Trump away from his real base, and the fact that we've radicalized America against the globalists now, and the fact there's no turning back for them. And there's no turning back for us.

What a big story that Jones was instrumental in both these events. And the media knows that and they won't report on it because they're so damn scared.

They tried to use me to hurt Trump four years ago. It didn't work. It made him more credible with the grassroots. And now they figured it out.

There's a lot they haven't figured out though that I'm not going to tell them. But let's just say this, they've really screwed up. I can tell you, this isn't about me bragging because it's an incredible responsibility. It's very daunting.

[Alex goes on to brag about himself and his influence for several minutes]

InfoWars Associates and Fans Charged or Convicted

This data was originally compiled by u/SeeCrew106 on Reddit, and is reproduced with permission. It has been edited to add additional entries, and to improve clarity in the new format.

Name	Relation	Convicted of	Sentence	Notes
Thomas John Ballard	Fan	Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon	54 months	"[O]n Jan. 6, 2021, Ballard was wearing [...] an "Infowars" baseball cap [...] when he joined the mob storming the U.S. Capitol." Among other assaults, he attacked officers "using numerous makeshift weapons that included a piece of metal scaffolding, several pieces of a wooden plank, and a white metal pole. At approximately 4:47 p.m., Ballard threw a tabletop at officers."
Edward Badalian	Caller	Conspiracy; obstruction of an official proceeding; entering and remaining in a restricted building	4 years, 3 months	A message posted by Rodriguez between Dec. 31 and Jan. 4 to a person not identified in the indictment said he would "assassinate Joe Biden" if he got the chance and "would rather die than live under a Biden administration." Prosecutors allege Badalian collected weapons and tactical gear to bring to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, including respirators, masks, snow goggles, knee pads, and baseball helmets. The gear was among the items used by supporters of former President Trump to storm past barricades to get into the Capitol. Badalian allegedly went on to boast about his part in the Capitol riot by appearing on the show "Infowars" under the pseudonym Turbo, alongside video provided by someone identified only as "Person One."
Joe Biggs	Friend, Infowars correspondent	Seditious conspiracy; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties; obstruction of law enforcement; destruction of government property	17 years	Proud Boys, Iraq veteran, purple heart recipient, engaged in domestic violence, homophobe, mysogynist. Was supposedly approached by the FBI for on-the-ground intelligence about "Antifa". Destroyed a Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2020.
Jeffrey Scott Brown	Fan	Civil disorder; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building for grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly conduct in the capitol grounds or buildings; act of physical violence in the capitol grounds or buildings	4 years, 6 months	"The day before the Jan. 6 riot, Brown posted a selfie, wearing an Infowars shirt, and a message — 'Boarding LAX' — to a Telegram messaging application group chat that described itself as 'the Comms for able bodied individuals that are going to DC on Jan 6' where members 'are all ready and willing to fight"
Jacob Chansley(a.k.a. Jacob Angeli, a.k.a. QAnon Shaman)	Guest (after Jan 6th)	Obstructing an official proceeding	41 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and $2000 fine	Chansley has appeared on Infowars at least two times after the attack, first on Jan 8th, 2021, then again after serving his custodial sentence on August 4th, 2023.
Donovan Crowl	Fan	Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; civil disorder	Pending	In 2015, Crowl, at 45, moved into the basement of the home his mother, JoAnn Rowe, in Peoria, Illinois, where they squabbled over politics and media. "A lot of it was Alex Jones," Rowe told CNN last year, referring to her son's media diet. "He would tell us that Hillary Clinton had a sex ring in the basement of a pizza parlor."
Jackson Kostolsky	Fan	Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds	30 days home detention	In a letter to the presiding judge, his mother said Kostolsky, who is in his early 30s, was a fan of Alex Jones and other right-wing personalities. "He was very influenced by Rush Limbaugh and, sadly, Alex Jones and his conspiracy theories," she wrote. "It seemed to fuel his anger issues. He believes everything Alex Jones has to say. Jack is what I believe to be a victim of the media."
Roberto Minuta	Security detail	Seditious conspiracy; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to prevent members of Congress from discharging their official duties	4 years, 6 months	Oath Keepers, key ally of Stewart Rhodes. Tattoo artist. In his video broadcasts he stated "You know what? Millions will die. So what? ... Get your fucking soul ready. Get right with God." Earlier in the day, Minuta had been part of a team providing security services to Roger Stone. He was photographed with armored gloves, goggles and bear spray on January 6.
Samuel Montoya	Employee	Parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building	4 months home detention
Ethan Nordean	Friend, Guest	Seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties, obstruction of law enforcement and destruction of government property.	18 years	Proud Boys - Prosecutors alleged Nordean was a chief organizer of a mob of about 100 Proud Boys that marched through Washington before the breach of the Capitol. (...) Nordean told the judge, "the truth is, I did help lead a group of men back to the Capitol. There is no excuse for my actions, ignoring police commands, going past barricades, entering the Capitol. In video played to a federal jury in D.C., Seattle-area Proud Boys head Ethan Nordean told other group leaders that morning that they would shortly "link up with Alex Jones." Florida lieutenant Joe Biggs repeated to Nordean just before noon that the rendezvous would occur at the West front of the building where "we'll … merge with Alex as they're comin' in and we'll do our s---." In a November podcast called "Warboys," Nordean referenced "the day of the rope" for "traitors" who were urging acceptance of the 2020 election results. That term, prosecutors said, was lifted from "The Turner Diaries," a racist and antisemitic novel depicting the violent overthrow of the "Zionist Occupied Government" by white supremacists who storm the U.S. Capitol.
Stewart Rhodes	Friend, Guest	Seditious conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, and tampering with documents and proceedings	18 years	Part of the Oath Keepers. Although he didn't kill anybody, this guy may be the most dangerous one yet, as he had a leading role on Jan 6th and apparently "goes way back" with Jones. He procured a "small arsenal of weapons" worth $20,000 on the way to DC. And was later recorded on tape saying: "My only regret is that they should have brought rifles... We should have brought rifles. We could have fixed it right then and there. I'd hang fucking Pelosi from the lamppost."
Daniel Rodriguez	Fan	Conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding; obstruction of justice, and assaulting a law enforcement officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon	12 years, 7 months	Said Infowars inspired him. He used a stun gun on officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack immediately after while begging for his life
Jon Schaffer	Guest	Obstructing an official proceeding; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon	Pending	Oath Keepers, founding member. Jon Schaffer has pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, including for breaching the Capitol while wearing a tactical vest and armed with bear spray, with the intent to interfere with Congress' certification of the Electoral College results,"
Owen Shroyer	Employee	Illegally entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds	60 days	Also heavily involved in the Sandy Hook case
Enrique Tarrio	Friend, Guest	Seditious conspiracy; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties; obstruction of law enforcement; and destruction of government property.	22 years	Zac Drucker, who worked for Jones for six years and leaked video of him drinking vodka around the office, told Hatewatch in a phone conversation that former FBI informant and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio used Infowars to build up the Proud Boys brand. Tarrio does not appear in the texts, but he has popped up as an Infowars guest many times over the years. In 2021, Reuters revealed that Tarrio served as an informant for local and federal law enforcement for years before taking a leadership role with the Proud Boys. "Enrique Tarrio talked to Alex like he needed something out of him all the time," Drucker recalled to Hatewatch. "I always thought that Enrique Tarrio was an informant for the government the entire time. Just because of his demeanor, the way that he projected himself. The way that he would be in a conversation … he would always do these prepper conversations where he's just getting you in the narrative he wants to present [before] he starts talking to you. And I always found that manipulative." Drucker said that the Proud Boys and Tarrio stroked Jones' ego in order to access his Infowars audience.
Jessica Watkins	Fan	Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; interfering with police	8.5 years	At sentencing, Watkins claimed "I got a steady diet of InfoWars and Alex Jones. That's how I found the Oath Keepers in the first place. I probably watched 5 or 6 hours a day."
William Watson	Fan	Obstruction of an official proceeding; and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon	3 years	Watson "said he had been directed by a radio show host - Alex Jones who operates the website InfoWars - to meet at the Capitol at 1 p.m."

(Dis)Honorable Mentions

• Kenneth Chesebro (who plead guilty to conspiracy to file false documents in Georgia in connection to his work trying to overturn the election) seems to have spent January 6th following Alex around and filming him. As of the time of writing, it's unclear why, and Chesebro's convicted behavior does not directly relate to Jan 6th.
• Patrick Duffy has been arrested and charged with four misdemeanors for his behavior on Jan 6th. The indictment highly implies he was a fan of InfoWars, claiming that he twice traveled to DC to watch Jones speak, and followed Jones to the capitol. At the current time, however, he has not been convicted, and his status as an InfoWars listener is not confirmed.