Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Wednesday shared his thoughts about why he thinks so many federal, state and local agencies are preparing for the upcoming total solar eclipse, saying that the government is planning to use the event as a practice run for declaring martial law.
"All this is is a dress rehearsal," Jones said of the solar eclipse. "No government in modern times ... have ever acted like this for a solar eclipse."
On Monday, April 8, the moon will be positioned so that the entire disc of the sun will be blocked in several states, plunging millions of people into darkness during the early afternoon. The path of totality will start in Mexico and extend across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine before heading over the North Atlantic.
The spectacle is expected to draw crowds from around the nation as people head to areas in the path of totality to witness the eclipse. Officials across the country have voiced concerns about stretched public safety resources and an "enormous strain" on local hospitals and congested roadways. At least four states have urged residents to stock up on groceries and gas and to fill medical prescriptions in the days leading up to the eclipse, as it is expected that traffic could overwhelm local roads.
On Wednesday, Jones spoke for several minutes on a podcast about his thoughts regarding the federal and state efforts surrounding the eclipse. Jones also shared his theory on his widely discredited conspiracy website, InfoWars.
According to Jones, the government is using the solar eclipse as an opportunity to practice enacting martial law, which he says will then allegedly be enacted if former president Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election. Martial law occurs when ordinary law is suspended and replaced by military rule.
Trump, the likely Republican nominee for president, is preparing for his third general election since 2016. Jones is a staunch Trump ally who has defended the former president for years.
Jones called the response from federal and state agencies a "government takeover" and said that the federal government was making an effort to get "all local governments at one time to be unified under Homeland Security."
Newsweek has reached out to InfoWars by email for comment.
Jones has previously spoken about conspiracy theories surrounding the eclipse, including when recently saying that the eclipse is a sign from God and that the Department of Homeland Security is preparing to "hijack" the so-called "biblical event."
Government officials, however, have said they are enacting disaster declarations and preparing emergency plans because of the strain on resources as visitors flock to the path of totality.
Some cities are expecting their population to triple during the event, potentially overwhelming infrastructure. The steep increase in population could also strain the cellular network, or gridlock traffic for hours, according to the New York State Police.
Despite Jones' claims that this could be a government plot for a martial law practice run, a number of Trump allies have called for the declaration in the past.
After President Joe Biden was declared winner of the 2020 presidential election, several Trump supporters—including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Trump's first national security advisor Michael Flynn—encouraged Trump to enact martial law in order to hold another vote to overturn the election results.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more
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