Supreme Court won’t hear InfoWars host’s First Amendment challenge to Jan. 6 conviction

The Supreme Court has rejected a petition from Owen Shroyer — an InfoWars host who traversed Capitol grounds with broadcaster Alex Jones amid the riot on Jan. 6, 2021 — seeking to overturn his misdemeanor guilty plea on First Amendment grounds.

Shroyer accompanied Jones throughout the day on Jan. 6, helping lead the march from President Donald Trump’s rally to the Capitol while stoking the fury of thousands of Trump supporters who had just attended his “stop the steal” rally.

Shroyer, unlike Jones, was charged with misdemeanors for what prosecutors said were his efforts to inflame the crowd, using a bullhorn, at the foot of the Capitol. Though Shroyer had claimed he was working with Jones to help calm the seething mob — and Jones was captured on video calling for calm and asking police officers for permission to address rioters to steer them away from the Capitol — prosecutors said Shroyer deviated from that path when he ascended the Capitol steps and exhorted the crowd with a chant of “1776.” Jones’ group, prosecutors noted, also ignored officers’ exhortations to leave Capitol grounds altogether.