James O'Brien brands former conspiracy theorist one of his 'favourite calls of all time'
9 August 2022, 12:54
James O'Brien brands ex-conspiracy theorist one of the best calls 'of all time'
This former follower of Alex Jones' maps out the downfall of the conspiracists movement, in a call that LBC listeners dub 'brilliant' and 'amazing'.
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American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was this week instructed to pay $41.5 million in damages to the families of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut.
Through his online broadcasts, Mr Jones circulated misinformation about the massacre, telling his millions of followers that the murder of 26 people was a hoax designed to take firearms away from Americans.
Levie in Cornwall phoned in to James O'Brien to share his experience of falling into the conspiracy theory rabbit hole.
"Alex Jones in the early to mid 2000s, when I was in university, was one of those people who said 'the government are coming to take your guns.'" He explained that this sort of claim became ground zero for all American conspiracy theories to follow.
The caller added that when he lived on campus, "your eyes start to open to just how bonkers this person can be" and he saw that the theories he subscribed to were wrong.
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James O'Brien caller on American conspiracies
The Alabama native told James that Mr Jones "prays on already vulnerable people" with his theories.
James began to understand the chain of events: "Once you believe they'll do anything to take your guns away, the door is open to something as outwardly bonkers as staging a school [shooting]."
The colossal damages payment came in addition to the $4 million (£3.4m) in compensatory damages the InfoWars host was ordered to pay on Thursday to parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis.
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However, the amount is less than the $150 million (£124m) sought by the pair.
The trial is the first time Jones has been held financially liable for peddling lies about the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut.
In the final phase of the two-week trial, the Austin jury came back and tacked on an additional $45.2 million (£37.4m) in punitive damages - intended to punish defendants for particularly bad conduct.
The caller went on to offer a theory as to how the parents of Sandy Hook victims managed to "expose [Mr Jones] for the fraud he is."
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@mrjamesob The American gentleman you were just speaking to would make a fascinating Full Disclosure guest.@LBC
— Lady Charlie says 🇨🇰 3.5% 🐝 💙 (@HarveyFirestone) August 9, 2022
What an amazing, articulate caller to @mrjamesob. Wow indeed. Please clip bit @LBC
— Faye K (@FayeKamsika) August 9, 2022
@mrjamesob @lbc what a brilliant caller!
— Hunt The Economist 🕷 (@HuntStunning) August 9, 2022
"When you boil it down to its basest form, they have literally lost everything they could possibly lose. So what else could these people on the internet take from them?"
James was curious as to how the caller broke free of the conspiracy theory lifestyle.
"Being away from the echo chamber kind of broke the spell", he replied, telling James that growing up in rural Alabama and moving to university campus was the change of scene he needed to wake up.
Closing the conversation, James was truly moved by the call. He told the caller that he was without a doubt "one of my favourite callers of all time".
"I owe you one", he told Levie.
