The judge overseeing a civil suit against right-wing media personality Alex Jones said Friday that the FBI was aware of threats being made about her on his Infowars website.
Judge Barbara Bellis drew attention to the matter in an order issued from Connecticut State Superior Court in Waterbury, where both Mr. Jones and Infowars are on the receiving end of a civil suit brought by lawyers representing the families of victims killed during the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012.
“In the interest of full disclosure to all parties, the court was contacted by the Connecticut State Police who were reportedly contacted by the FBI regarding threats against the undersigned made by individuals on the defendant Infowars website,” she wrote.
“The court has no further information in that regard and plans to take no further action, however, the court believes it is required to disclose the matter to all parties,” she wrote.
The order did not specify when or where the threats appeared or who may be responsible. Infowars publishes new content daily, and the website typically allows users to submit comments that are then displayed beneath articles and viewable by other visitors.
In a statement, a lawyer defending Mr. Jones said that he had been made aware of the threats and was searching Infowars “to see what the fuss is about.”
“The fact that no law enforcement agent has contacted us for further information suggests the threats are not serious,” said the lawyer, Norman Pattis.
Filed in May 2018, the lawsuit alleges Mr. Jones defamed relatives of Sandy Hook victims by previously claiming that the mass shooting had never happened. He repeatedly disputed facts about the shooting on his Infowars website and during broadcasts of his internet and radio program, “The Alex Jones Show,” and had called the massacre a “giant hoax” before changing course.
Plaintiffs said last week that they found child pornography on emails provided by Mr. Jones, who subsequently blamed the lawyers suing him in an expletive-laden rant aired last Friday.
A hearing held this week to consider the comments resulted in Mr. Jones being sanctioned by the judge Tuesday, three days before she reported being made aware of the threats.
Neither the FBI nor Connecticut State Police immediately returned requests for comment sent over the weekend.
Twenty-six people, mostly young children, were shot and killed at Sandy Hook by Adam Lanza, a former student who committed suicide at the scene.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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