At least three people were killed Monday morning, December 16, in a school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, WI, as of this writing. And while Alex Jones‘ InfoWars empire is already bankrupt over school shooting conspiracy theories, Jones still dove immediately into the deep end on X about what he thinks happened. And in true Jones fashion, it’s repulsive.
Early reports vary on how many people died in the Madison school shooting, and whether they were all students, or whether some killed or injured are faculty. The New York Times reports that six people were injured, and three people were killed, including the shooter, who was a juvenile. CNN says the individual was believed to be a student at the school. Six others were hurt in the attack, and Madison police say those injuries ranged from minor, to life-threatening.
In June of 2024, Alex Jones was court-ordered to liquidate $1.5 billion in assets to pay families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims for suggesting on his InfoWars platform that the attack had never happened, so you would think he had learned his lesson about spreading school shooting misinformation. But within hours of the December 16 school shooting, Jones shared an X post that read, “If the statistical trend continues with this tragic event, there is a 98% chance this is gang, or trans-related,” referring to the Madison attack.
If it’s “trans-related,” he added, the Madison story will disappear out of the news “within one day,” wasting no time suggesting a conspiracy, and proving his court-ordered bankruptcy has taught him nothing.
Art Candee shared Jones’ post, captioned, “Alex Jones is already [spreading] conspiracy theories about the school shooting that just happened in Madison, Wisconsin, where at least two people are dead. This clown is a f’n menace to society.” Jones’ post has since been deleted.
“A f’n menace to society”
Gang violence is on the rise in Madison, according to the City of Madison Police Department, which says steps have been taken to address the situation, so Jones’ speculation about a gang connection might not be off base. But while the total number of victims and the shooter’s identity have not even been confirmed, he has no way of knowing that for certain, so it still seems an unwarranted assumption.
At the same time, Jones’ “trans-related” school shooting claim is a debunked conspiracy theory shared widely on social media. There have been instances of LGBTQ+ and transgender people involved in school shootings, but Jones’ preoccupation is not borne out by reality. Statistics vary, but according to reporting on the subject by Reuters, estimates of how many school shooters have identified as transgender range from 0.11% to about 5%. So for Alex Jones to claim that all school shooters are likely trans or in gangs is a combined fallacy of correlation and causation about both trans and gang issues.
Despite zero evidence suggesting Jones is right, comments on Art Candee’s post prove the “trans school shooting” theory remains pervasive. “But is he wrong?” one comment said. “How is that a lie. That’s based in facts. You can’t gaslight us on this stuff,” another added. And finally, someone wrote, ” … and yet the past events have proven that to be pretty accurate.”
Not everyone fell for Jones’ post, however. “His statistical trend is bulls**t. He literally couldn’t be more incorrect. But people will eat up his c**p like it’s candy,” a comment responded. “FACT: 100% of deaths from being shot are the result of bullets coming out of GUNS!” another comment said, in part.
Details of the Madison tragedy are still emerging, and a clearer picture of what happened and what may have motivated the shooting may soon come about. “This is [an] ever-evolving situation,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said at a press conference on the tragedy. “So there’s a lot of work that has to be done, and we’re committed to doing that work. We just ask for your patience.”