Right-wing conspiracy theorist is known for making wild claims to followers of his Infowars network, but a Sunday episode of The Alex Jones Show took his brand of out-there entertainment to shocking new heights.
Mr Jones unsheathed a knife and said he wanted to cut off one of his fingers to show how greatful he was to his audience.
“And that’s why when I salute you — I’m not into self-harming, but I just actually want to take this dagger and just cut a finger off right on air to show you how much I appreciate you and what you’ve done,” he said, adding, “Giving up a finger to beat these people is nothing!”
The online provocateur ended up re-sheathing the knife without harming himself.
Mr Jones said he was considering slicing off a finger because of what the audience had helped the show achieve.
“We have been given nothing but success, nothing but victory,” he said. “It has been spectacular. And you, the viewers and listeners, you did this!”
While the host painted an upbeat picture, the fringe news site has in fact has spent much of the year in a protracted legal battle with the families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
They sued Mr Jones in 2018 for calling the 2012 Connecticut shooting, which left 20 children and six school employees dead, a hoax.
In June, three companies linked to Infowars agreed to dismiss Chapter 11 bankruptcy pleas in the case, which Sandy Hook families had called a “sinister” tactic to avoid liability.
That same month, a Texas court ordered him to pay $1m in sanctions for his conduct in a similar suit.
Last November, a Connecticut court found Mr Jones guilty of defamation by default after he failed to produce evidence sought by the defence.
It’s not the first time he’s been in court of his outlandish claims that Sandy Hook was a “false flag” operation carried out by “crisis actors.”
He has previously paid out tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to nine different families that have sued him over his Sandy Hook remarks.
