This article has been updated since it’s original publication.
The walls just keep closing in on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones as more and more platforms keep dropping him. Following Twitter’s recent one week “restriction” on the pundit, the pirate radio station in Texas that served as home to his flagship show has now been dropped amid a fight with the FCC.
According to Deadline, “The Department of Justice filed suit against Walter and Rae Olenick, accusing them of operating an unlicensed radio station out of their Austin apartment complex since at least 2013.”
The Texas Liberty Radio station included “The Alex Jones Show” and “The Vaccine Myth with Shawn Siegel” among its lineup. In recent weeks, the FCC sent multiple requests that they “cease immediately” for operating without a license, warning that fines, seizure of equipment and criminal sanctions could result if they did not cooperate.
The Olenicks did not comply, arguing that the agency lacked jurisdiction and to “kindly never bother us with your harassment … again.” Now, the Texas Liberty Radio website states that “due to circumstances beyond our control,” the broadcast is no longer available. People can listen to the shows can use streaming apps like TuneIn, WinAmp or Shoutcast.
“The FCC imposed a $15,000 fine on the Olenicks in 2014 for their willful and repeated violations, which they refused to pay,” reports Deadline. “The U.S. Attorney filed suit (read it here) Friday in U.S. District Court in Austin, seeking to force the couple to pay the penalty. The Austin-American Statesman reported that religious programming was airing on 90.1 FM on Wednesday, in place of Liberty Radio.”
Though Alex Jones has been banned from major platforms like Facebook and Youtube, his number of subscribers has jumped by 5.6 million.
UPDATE: In a statement released on Infowars, Alex Jones called media reports on the pirate radio story a “hoax”:
Alex Jones released the following statement:
We do not operate any radio or TV stations anywhere in the country.
Claims that we are running an illegal radio station in Austin, Texas, are a complete and total hoax by mainstream, corporate media to imply to the world that our broadcast is somehow illegal.
We legally and lawfully transmit our broadcast like every other TV and radio show in the world to affiliates that have licenses on cable TV, broadcast TV and AM/FM radio.
Media reports to the contrary are implying that our broadcast is illegal by preying on the public’s ignorance on how broadcasting works.
We do not have a radio station. This is a giant hoax. There are thousands of “micro” radio stations across the country that we have nothing to do with, including the recently shut down station.
These stations run anywhere from a tenth of a watt up to a couple of watts with a range of about two miles.
The claim that “our station” – which is not our station at all – has been taken down for not having FCC authorization is falsely implying that our broadcast itself is somehow illegal.
Now we see where this is going: the FCC will send letters to stations that rebroadcast me, because we’re free-to-air, and imply that running my broadcast is illegal.
This is an attempt to poison the well of radio and TV stations across the country.
And this is the establishment attempting to completely deplatform us through our free-to-play transmissions which are completely lawful and legal that anyone can pick up who wishes to.
Mr. Jones does not own, operate, or have any relationship with that radio station or its owners. It is not his “flagship” station, and as the FCC will confirm, the FCC’s actions were in no way related to the fact that the station may have broadcast Mr. Jones’ programs in the past. The FCC has acted against the station’s owners because of its operation without a license, in violation of FCC rules. This has absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Jones and his programming. Recent news articles convey the entirely false implication that the FCC’s actions were directed against Mr. Jones.
In short, Mr. Jones has no involvement in the ownership, operation, or conduct by the radio station, and it is not his “flagship” station.