A Connecticut judge overseeing lawsuits filed by bereaved families of the Sandy Hook shooting massacre against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones revealed that she has received death threats from Jones’ fans in posts on his Infowars website.
Judge Barbara Bellis wrote in a court filing Friday that the FBI and Connecticut State Police had contacted her about the threats, however she did not release further details about what the messages specifically entailed.
Bellis is presiding over the case involving the controversial online host and the family members of Sandy Hook victims, who are suing Jones for defamation after he claimed the 2012 elementary school shooting was a hoax.
‘The court was contacted by the Connecticut State Police who were reportedly contacted by the FBI regarding threats against [Bellis] made by individuals on the defendant Infowars website,’ Bellis’s filing details.
Judge Barbara Bellis wrote in a court filing Friday that the FBI contacted Connecticut State Police about the threats, however she did not elaborate on what the messages specifically entailed
The threats were made in the comments section of Alex Jones’ InfoWars website after Bellis ordered the controversial host to pay the legal fees of the Sandy Hook families suing him
But Infowars attorney Norm Pattis said the threats don’t appear to be serious, but a review of the website was underway.
‘We were informed this afternoon that law enforcement contacted Judge Bellis about alleged threats on an Infowars server,’ Pattis said in a statement.
‘The fact that no law enforcement agent has contacted us for further information suggests the threats are not serious,’ he continued. ‘Even so, we are now searching Infowars website to see what all the fuss is about.’
In a broadcast on Tuesday, Jones attacked the Judge, labeling her ‘ignorant’ and suggested she was complicit in a conspiracy to destroy his reputation.
The outburst came after the judge ordered him to pay the legal fees for the eight Sandy Hook families for accusing their lawyer of trying to frame him with child porn.
In a broadcast on Tuesday, Jones attacked the Judge, labeling her ‘ignorant’ and suggested she was complicit in a conspiracy to destroy his reputation
Pornography was found in electronic files sent by him as part of the discovery process in the ongoing suit.
The conspiracy theorist accused one of the family’s attorneys of planting the porn and offered his viewers a $1 million reward for information on the emails.
His allegations came after the lawyers for the families notified the FBI on June 7 that child porn was found in the files sent to them by Jones and his attorneys.
The FBI examined the emails and found the porn was attached to emails sent to Jones at Infowars but that he had never opened them.
Bellis is presiding over the case involving the controversial online host and the family members of Sandy Hook victims, who are suing Jones for defamation after he claimed the 2012 elementary school shooting was a hoax (pictured: bereaved father Neil Helsin holds up a picture of his Jesse Lewis)
Jones subsequently spoke out on his show and accused lawyer Chris Mattei of framing him.
‘You think when you call up, oh, we’ll protect you. We found the child porn. I don’t like kids like you goddamn rapists, (expletive). I’ll (expletive) get you in the end… You’re trying to set me up with child porn… one million dollars to put your head on a pike,’ Jones said in his 20-minute rant.
The lawyers told the judge they believed the comments made by Jones were threats, while the InfoWars host’s own attorney argued that he was simply enraged.
‘The court has no doubt that Alex Jones was accusing plaintiffs’ counsel of placing child pornography in discovery material,’ the judge said in her ruling on Tuesday.
‘I reject the defense claim that Alex Jones was enraged, it was an intentional act of rage for his viewing audience.’
Though the nature of the threats against Bellis remain largely a mystery, in a further statement to the Daily Beast, Pattis called the news of the threats ‘stunning’.
‘I am confident that no one at Infowars condoned or encouraged such a thing,’ he said.
A 20-year-old gunman killed 20 first-graders, six educators and himself at the school, after having killed his mother at their Newtown home
The families of eight victims of the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and an FBI agent who responded to the massacre are suing Jones, Infowars and others for promoting a theory that the shooting was a hoax.
A 20-year-old gunman killed 20 first-graders, six educators and himself at the school, after having killed his mother at their Newtown home.
The plaintiffs said they have been subjected to harassment and death threats from Jones’ followers because of the hoax conspiracy.
Jones has since said he believes the shooting occurred.