According to a BuzzFeed report, Alex Jones lost his custody battle against his ex-wife Kelly Jones this Thursday, with the couple receiving joint custody and Kelly Jones retaining the ability to decide where the children live. Before the court battle, she had joint custody of the children with limited visitation rights and her ex-husband was allowed to decide where the children lived.
“I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful support system and I just pray that what’s happened to my family that people can understand what parental alienation syndrome is and get an awareness of it so we can stop this from happening to others,” Ms. Jones told reporters.
BuzzFeed recounted the bitter tone as both sides gave their closing arguments, with Alex Jones’ lawyers portraying his ex-wife as “emotionally unstable and quick to wrongly accuse the Texas family court system of deep corruption against her,” and Kelly Jones’ lawyers arguing that Alex Jones was a “master manipulator” who’d alienated the children from her.
“Mr. Jones is like a cult leader,” attorney Robert Hoffman reportedly told the jury. “And we’ve seen the horrific damage cult leaders do to their followers.”
“Is it Mr. Jones’ celebrity or his vast wealth that’s allowed him to escape detection? Nobody can stop this man,” he said according to BuzzFeed. “Except for you.”
The custody case first caught media attention when it was discovered Jones’ defense would claim that his unhinged on-air persona is just “performance art,” sparking intrigue as to who the real Alex Jones was. But ultimately, Jones bonafides as one of the most extreme vocal conspiracy theorists of modern times was largely kept out of court testimony, except for when Kelly Jones’ lawyers were allowed to mention how Jones “spewed violent hate in his professional life.” At one point, they played a video clip where Jones was alleged to be intoxicated on air.
Here's video of Kelly Jones here in the lobby post verdict pic.twitter.com/w81jfvMKbE
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) April 28, 2017
From BuzzFeed:
Jones, used to owning the spotlight and speaking his mind, was largely unable to communicate, both personally and professionally, during the trial. Throughout the case — both on the witness stand and behind his attorneys’ desk — Jones appeared restless, constantly shifting in his seat, pacing, and running his hands across his face in exasperation. On the stand, he was aggressive and animated. He was admonished by the judge roughly a dozen times for finger pointing, aggressively nodding his head, and refusing to answer witness questions with a simple “yes or no” response.
It will be interesting to see if Jones weaves his lost court battle into his web of conspiracies. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s used children as a prop for his paranoid lies.
Featured image via YouTube
