The Texas-based conspiracy theorist recently sought immunity from federal prosecutors investigating the U.S. Capitol riot. Three of his companies have filed for bankruptcy in an apparent effort to delay his Sandy Hook defamation trial.
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
Editor’s note: This story contains explicit language.
Lenny Pozner doesn’t understand why people are surprised to learn he used to be a regular listener of Alex Jones’ show.
Pozner’s 6-year-old son, Noah, was one of the 26 children and adults who were killed during the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Soon after the tragedy, Jones began using his Austin-based media juggernaut to spread bogus claims that the shooting was a staged government conspiracy made up of crisis actors and fake personas.
Still, for Pozner — one of the Sandy Hook parents involved in a series of defamation lawsuits that have turned into a fierce legal reckoning for Jones — the fact that he used to tune into the right-wing conspiracist’s broadcasts during long car drives is less a twist of fate and more a reflection of something obvious and unremarkable: Jones has reach.
“People repeat that as if it's a big deal. But what I've noticed is that a lot of people pretend they don't know who Alex Jones is,” he said. “That's bullshit. Everybody knows who Alex Jones is.”
At the height of his influence in 2018, Jones boasted an audience of...
Welcome to Reality Check, NewsGuard’s nonpartisan newsletter that tracks the false claims and conspiracy theories that shape our world — and who’s behind them. Please support us by becoming a premi...