Alex Jones’ sidekick Owen Shroyer has been thrown into solitary confinement for a second time after he said he was planning to host an Infowars show from jail.
Shroyer, a conspiracy theorist, January 6 rioter and co-host on Mr Jones’ show, is currently serving 60 days in federal prison for his part in the mob of rioters who stormed the US Capitol almost two years ago.
While the right-wing host did not enter the Capitol building itself, he did lead other Donald Trump supporters to the building and in chants to the top of the steps.
After pleading guilty to a misdemeanour charge of illegally entering a restricted area, Shroyer had to give up his day job of promoting groundless claims and theories about the 2020 election on Infowars to serve time behind bars.
But, on 31 October, an account which seems to be operated by someone on behalf of Shroyer, posted an audio recording stating that he planned to host a radio show while serving time.
After monologuing about the vast amounts of fan mail he has been getting, Shroyer said: “I do hope to pull the impossible and, maybe, something that’s never been done before, hosting a radio show from a federal prison.”
Following the announcement, right-wing media outlets broadcasted on Wednesday that Shroyer had been sent back into solitary confinement over the plot.
“The feds just threw Owen back in solitary confinement for sending this message from prison and having it posted on X,” claimed Jack Posobiec, an alt-right activist and senior editor of the conservative Human Events media outlet.
The conspiracy theorist spread baseless claims on 2020 election fraud to hundreds of thousands— (InfoWars)
Shroyer’s social media account also supported this claim, saying that the reasons behind him being placed in solitary confinement are not clear – and that the account was keeping updates to a minimum for the “sake of his well-being”.
While his followers hit out online, others criticised Shroyer for his plans.
“It seems as though some of these January 6ers really don’t believe the law applies to them,” entrepreneur Ed Krassenstein wrote on X.
“Why do they think they are above the rule of law?”
Shroyer’s X account had previously stated that he was placed in solitary confinement when he first arrived at the prison.
His account, which describes him as a “political prisoner,” said: “We have confirmed through a source within FCI Oakdale prison that Owen is doing well and remains in good spirits.
“With that said, unfortunately, he is being held in solitary confinement until Monday, 10/30, per the facility’s (absurd/pathetic) covid intake protocol.”
His upset followers fumed that the prison was “using covid as an excuse”.
Shroyer’s social media team had then announced on 30 October that he was out of solitary confinement – before posting the inmate’s bizarre federal prison radio announcement the following day.
While it is unclear if his radio show announcement did lead to his alleged return to solitary confinement, it was his peddling of conspiracies that landed him in prison in the first place.
Prosecutors said Shroyer “helped create January 6” by regurgitating violent rhetoric and promoting groundless claims of 2020 election fraud to hundreds of thousands of viewers.
Shroyer joined the January 6 riots with Sandy Hook denier Mr Jones, after the pair had continuously spewed conspiracies about election fraud on Infowars.
“Everybody knows this election was stolen,” Shroyer said, one day before the riots broke out.
Mr Jones hasn’t been charged with any crimes related to January 6.
More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes relating to the January 6 Capitol riot, with more than 600 of them having pleaded guilty. Sentences have ranged from three days to 22 years.
