Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is urging his supporters to “surround the governor’s mansion” in Atlanta, Georgia, with the goal of disrupting the state’s certification of its 2020 presidential election, which was won by President-elect Joe Biden.
During a broadcast of his Infowars program on Monday, Jones added that he would be traveling to Georgia to join his supporters and Trump confidant Roger Stone, who would also appear outside the governor’s mansion. In recent weeks Jones has spoken at a series of rallies, sometimes using violent rhetoric, in an attempt to boost President Donald Trump’s efforts to steal the 2020 election on the basis of false voter fraud claims and other conspiracy theories.
Biden won Georgia by around 14,000 votes and the state must meet a November 20 deadline to certify the results. A hand recount is currently underway, and Georgia’s Republican secretary of state has said there were no widespread issues in the state’s administration of the election. After the secretary of state certifies the official election results, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp “is required by state law to accept them no later than 5 p.m. the next day.”
During the November 16 broadcast of The Alex Jones Show, Jones told listeners “everyone must go to the capital of Georgia now and you must surround the governor’s mansion now.” Jones said that he would also travel to Georgia where he would be joined by Stone, who has urged Trump to take several draconian actions to stay in power, including imposing martial law. Jones is also urging Trump to join him in Atlanta “and go into the governor’s mansion” to stop the election results from being certified. (Forming a blockade around the mansion would not actually stop the process because “the governor’s certification is a pro forma action to accept the secretary of state’s tally.”)
Jones told his supporters that “we must not accept this election” and “this means revolution, this means war,” adding, “This is a Chinese Communist New World Order takeover and martial law COVID lockdown, we must rise up.” He said that his call to “rise up” was channeling unhinged comments made by Trump coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas, who recently urged people to “rise up” against public health orders in Michigan.
Jones said that he will be outside the mansion on November 18 and 19 and again told his listeners, “I need that governor’s mansion covered now” because Kemp supposedly “works with the Clintons.”
Jones previously spoke at a November 5 rally in Arizona that attempted to interfere with vote counting. During his remarks, Jones made several violent threats and hyped the prospect of a second civil war in America. He later said that he had attended the event at the urging of the White House. Jones was also a participant in a number of rallies held by far-right groups in Washington, D.C., on November 14 in support of Trump. In recent weeks, Jones has hosted Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the pro-Trump Oath Keepers militia, for segments in which Rhodes has said his militia members are ready to kill Democrats on Trump’s command.
