Prominent right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was arrested early Tuesday morning on charges of driving while intoxicated, according to law enforcement.
Jones, who as host of the Austin-based InfoWars conspiracy theory outlet has become a prominent force on the fringe right, was arrested on a class-B misdemeanor DWI charge, according to a spokeswoman for the Travis County sheriff’s department. Jones was booked into the Travis County Jail in Austin at 12:37 AM, and released on bond at 4:11 AM.
InfoWars didn’t respond to a request for comment. An article on the InfoWars website claimed that Jones was “caught up in a Travis Co. DWI dragnet” after being pulled over for speeding. In the story, Jones said he had been “drinking a small amount of sake at a Japanese restaurant.”
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But an arrest affidavit filed in court paints a different picture. According to the report, Jones’ wife called the sheriff’s department on Monday night to report a “family disturbance” between her and Jones. Jones’ wife added that he had possibly been drinking, according to the report.
“The disturbance now was only verbal but earlier in the day it ‘was physical,’” the affidavit reads.
On the way to Jones’ home, a sheriff’s deputy saw a car matching the description of Jones’ car and pulled him over. Jones had a “strong odor of alcohol coming from his person,” according to the affidavit, and said he had drank a bottle of Sake earlier that night at dinner. The report describes Jones’ eyes as “water and glassy,” with “constricted pupils,” and adds that the host was “excited, talkative, and carefree.”
“Jones stated he and his wife got into an argument while eating dinner and he ended up walking home from the restaurant,” the affidavit reads.
Jones swayed back and forth during the interview, according to the affidavit, and later allegedly failed a “walk and turn” sobriety test.
Jones announced his arrest on a Tuesday episode of his show, claiming that he had blown under the legal limit of 0.08 Blood Alcohol Content. Jones recorded a 0.079 on the test, according to the affidavit, putting him one one-hundredth below the limit. Texas law, however, allows for a driver to be charged with a DWI even if they’re under the limit, if they’re considered to be impaired.
This isn’t the first time Jones has been linked to alcohol and driving. In a December New York Times story, a former InfoWars staffer described Jones driving while drinking out of a Dixie cup that had the “smell of vodka, like paint thinner” in 2016.
As the head of InfoWars, Jones is facing multiple lawsuits from families who lost children in the 2012 Sandy Hook after claiming that the mass shooting was a hoax.
