U.S. eyes high-profile ties to Capitol riots
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and FBI are investigating whether high-profile rightwing figures — including Roger Stone and Alex Jones — may have played a role in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach as part of a broader look into the mindset of those who committed violence and their apparent paths to radicalization, according to people familiar with the investigation.
The investigation into potential ties between key figures in the riot and those who promoted former president Donald Trump’s false assertions that the election was stolen from him does not mean those who may have influenced rioters will face criminal charges, particularly given U.S. case law surrounding incitement and free speech, the people said. Officials at this stage said they are principally seeking to understand what the rioters were thinking — and who may have influenced beliefs — which could be critical to showing their intentions at trial.
However, investigators also want to determine whether anyone who influenced them bears enough responsibility to justify potential criminal charges, such as conspiracy or aiding the effort, the officials said. That prospect is still distant and uncertain, they emphasized.
“We are investigating potential ties between those physically involved in the attack on the Capitol and individuals who may have influenced them, such as Roger Stone, Alex Jones and (Stop the Steal organizer) Ali Alexander,” said a U.S. official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Stone is a longtime adviser to Trump, while Jones is a radio and web-streaming host behind Infowars.com. Both are frequent purveyors of conspiracy theories: Stone wrote a book suggesting Lyndon B. Johnson was behind John F. Kennedy’s assassination; Jones has spread and retracted claims that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a “hoax.”
All three amplified and intensified Trump’s incendiary claims that the 2020 election was illegitimate in the weeks leading up to the riot. But Stone and Alexander have directly credited each other with inspiring and planning the pro-Trump Stop the Steal campaign, with Alexander saying he came up with the idea and helped organize the Jan. 6 rally that drew Trump supporters to Washington. Stone and Jones also promoted the extremist groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and had preexisting business or personal ties with members the government has charged with coordinating and planning certain parts of the breach or with violence at an earlier Trump rally, records and documents show.
Shortly after the riot, Jones said on Infowars that he was invited by the White House on about Jan. 3 to “lead the march” to the Capitol, and that he paid nearly $500,000, mostly donated, to help organize the event on the Ellipse.
Jones promoted the event vigorously, called for one million marchers and told his viewers on Jan. 1, “Roger Stone spent some substantial time with Trump in Florida just a few days ago, and I’m told big things are afoot and Trump’s got major actions up his sleeve.”
On Jan. 6, however, Jones said he followed, not led, the rally crowd as people moved toward the Capitol, and became alarmed by the chaos.
“Let’s not fight the police and give the system what they want,” Jones was recorded shouting from an inaugural stage. His attorney Marc Randazza said the video shows Jones urged calm.
Later Jones is heard saying, “Trump is going to speak over here! Trump is coming!” in what appears to be an attempt to distract and move a crowd away from the building’s embattled west front.
Stone has also publicly distanced himself from the violence and criticized it, telling Moscow funded RT television on Jan. 8 that he was invited to lead a march but “I declined.”
Alexander, in a since-deleted video on Periscope weeks before the Jan. 6 rally, said he and three hard-line Republican Trump supporters “schemed up of putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting” to change the minds of those who wouldn’t go against certifying Biden’s win.
Alexander did not respond to an emailed request for comment for this story.
The Proud Boys have been a major focus of the FBI investigation so far. At least 18 Proud Boys or associates also have been charged, including several who, according to court documents, allegedly appeared to move in an organized fashion at the head of crowds storming police, forcing entry. Some also appeared to be wearing or using earpieces and two-way walkie-talkie style communication devices, prosecutors and the FBI said.