As Greek yogurt giant Chobani filed a lawsuit Monday against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the Infowars founder entered Day 6 of the custody trial that threatens to expose his on-air persona as a sham.
The lawsuit filed in Idaho District Court in Twin Falls on Monday accuses Jones and Infowars of fabricating stories about company CEO Hamdi Ulukuya. In a video earlier this month titled “MSM Covers For Globalist’s Refugee Import Program After Child Rape Case,” Infowars attempted to link Chobani to the alleged rape of a young child by two refugee teenagers.
The Associated Press stated that Chobani is seeking $10,000 in damages, alleging that Jones prompted a boycott of the company’s profits.
Founded by Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant of Kurdish descent, Chobani has hired more than 300 refugees for its factories, drawing the ire of outlets like Infowars and Breitbart news.
It’s this kind of inflammatory, often evidence-free content that was at the center of a discussion between Jones’s lawyers and his own father, who testified on his behalf on day 6 of his custody case in Austin on Monday.
The InfoWars host’s father, Austin dentist David Jones, was the first witness called to the stand on Monday by Alex Jones’s legal team. A flinty-eyed Texan, David gave little if any hint of being the inspiration for Jones volcanic on-air persona, though at times he bristled under cross-examination by ex-wife Kelly Jones’ attorney.
Asked if he thinks it’s appropriate for his three grandchildren to be exposed to his son’s broadcasting, Jones said “99 percent of the material on Infowars I would like the kids to be exposed to.”
He also estimated that he and his wife have made millions of dollars in recent years through his role in helping manage his son’s business endeavors.
Cross-examining a psychologist in court on Monday, Alex’s ex-wife Kelly Jones’s attorney Robert Hoffman asked “if it’s relevant if a man spews hatred and vile racist statements, if that poses a danger to his children?”
Alex Jones’s attorney objected and no answer was given.
Judge Naranjo has repeatedly stated in court that the case is not about politics, it’s about children and the family dynamic of the Jones, and “not what’s in the InfoWars commercials,” as she said Monday.
But before the legal teams entered the Travis County courthouse on Monday, Alex Jones released another video, apparently filmed at his attorney’s office across the street in downtown Austin.
In the video, titled “unprecedented attacks on Alex Jones in the presstitute media”, Jones rails against press coverage of his trial, and his legal team’s contention that his on-air persona is an act, a contention that could perhaps help him retain custody of his children, while also dealing a devastating blow to his credibility with his followers.
“Before they kill me, they will really try to assassinate my character and make stuff up and put five or six investigative journalists on me following me wherever I go, that’s an attempt to assassinate my image,” he said. “First they kill who you are in the media, and your image, then they kill you personally.”
In an additional video, also released on Monday, he said that his trial is part of an attempt to destroy “the leaders of the resistance: Donald Trump, Nigel Farrage, Marie Le Pen, myself and many others.”
Addressing questions about his persona, he said “because I am flamboyant and I do engage in satire they have taken me out of context to demonize and destroy the entire movement.”
Neither video makes any mention of the Greek yogurt lawsuit.
Kelly Jones’ legal team is expected to begin their case on Tuesday, and Kelly herself is expected to take the stand to testify. A video of Alex’s current wife Erika Wulff’s deposition is also set to be aired, perhaps giving one Texas courtroom a glimpse into the married life of America’s foremost, and loudest, conspiracy theorist.