Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones shouts at Austin employees, hikers at greenbelt entrance

Maskless and with a bullhorn in hand, Austin-based conspiracy theorist Alex Jones stood outside a Barton Creek greenbelt entrance and yelled at trail goers and park employees over the city’s reservation system, which he called an “illegal power grab of the people’s greenbelt.”

In a widely circulated video of Jones posted Monday, the host of the website InfoWars, said his wife was denied access to the greenbelt because she did not have a reservation, a new requirement by the city of Austin to limit large gatherings at certain trails and parks during the coronavirus pandemic.

Reservations are now required for the greenbelt, Commons Ford Ranch, Emma Long Metropolitan Park and Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park.

Jones spoke at April’s “You Can’t Close America Rally” on the south steps of the Capitol, where he called the virus “a hoax.”

The video of his greenbelt antics show Jones yelling at park employees, who are seated outside the entrance to check people in.

“Now you guys use your COVID hoax to like set a checkpoint up to take over the parks and start charging?” he asked the masked park employees, most of whom were seated in folding camp chairs at the entrance to the greenbelt. “It’s unconstitutional.”

At one point, Jones walks over to an employee, standing just feet away from him, and asks, “Who are you, masked man?”

“I’m a lifeguard for Barton Springs,” the man replies.

“You’re a lifeguard for Barton Springs, now part of the criminal power grab,” Jones responds.

The InfoWars video also alleges that a family from San Antonio was briefly turned away, but when the police arrived, they were allowed to enter.

“There they go,” Jones says of the family. “Down their path to freedom.”

The city’s popular greenbelts reopened Saturday, the first time since the July 4 holiday weekend.

Amanda Ross, natural resources division manager for Austin Parks and Recreation, said a city ordinance gives the department the authority to manage public lands with a reservations system or limit access.

“We regret the interaction that happened at the Hill of Life trailhead with Alex Jones and are talking with staff members about ways to protect themselves from personal verbal attack when working as a public servant,” Ross said in a statement Wednesday.

As of Saturday afternoon, an Austin Police Department spokesperson said there were no calls involving the reopening of the Barton Creek and Bull Creek greenbelts. The department did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Officials closed the greenbelts as a surge in coronavirus cases threatened to overwhelm the Austin area’s hospital systems. Travis County has seen three weeks of falling numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.