Far-right conspiracy theorists including Infowars publisher Alex Jones and Roger Stone, President Trump’s former campaign adviser, rushed to blame Antifa, the loose-knit antifascist movement, in the aftermath of Tuesday’s deadly train derailment in Washington state.
Mr. Jones and Mr. Stone each implied Antifa was responsible for the train crash in Dupont during episodes of their respective talk shows Tuesday.
Antifa are “prime suspects” in the derailment, the Infowars publisher insisted during “The Alex Jones Show” Tuesday.
“They have blood on their hands now, very clearly, and there’s more and more evidence that they’re involved in this derailment,” Mr. Stone said later Tuesday during “War Room,” a similarly-styled show produced under the Infowars banner.
Both Mr. Jones and Mr. Stone cited as evidence a web article from earlier this year that claimed individuals associated with Antifa poured concrete on railroad tracks in Washington state to disrupt trains carrying fracking equipment.
“It hit me like a ton of bricks when i learned of this today, because I remembered news article where Antifa — communist social groups funded by George Soros — were openly calling for sabotaging trains that were in regions where oil drilling or fracking was going on,” Mr. Jones said.
“I guarantee you mainstream media will attack me for even implying that Antifa would do such a thing, but they’re prime suspects after infrastructure. But this is simply amazing,” he said. “I noticed this happened in a very populated area, not on the rest of scenic route: perfectly [the] place for Antifa.”
At least three people died and dozens of others others were injured after an Amtrak train went off the rails early Monday in Pierce County near Tacoma.
The train was traveling at about 80 miles per hour on a 30 mph stretch of track when the crash occurred, federal authorities said.
The cause of the derailment remains under investigation.
Upwards of 50 million people catch “The Alex Jones Show” each week, according to its host. About 4 million watch “War Room” on a weekly basis, Mr. Stone told The Washington Times previously.
Mr. Trump appeared on “The Alex Jones Show” in 2015 and told the host, “Your reputation is outstanding.” Mr. Jones has since been a feverish defender of Mr. Trump’s administration, and last week he claimed he’s been contacted by the Secret Service to discuss his recent claims about an assassination plot targeting the president.
The White House has ignored multiple requests for comment concerning the relationship between the Infowars publisher and the president.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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