A defamation lawsuit filed late Wednesday names right-wing commentator Alex Jones and Pete Chambers — a former Republican candidate for Texas governor — as defendants, alleging that a video interview portrayed Colony Ridge, a sprawling development northeast of Houston, as cartel-run territory functioning as a "sanctuary city" filled with "mostly illegal" Hispanic residents, according to The New York Times.
Beyond the interview itself, which aired Feb. 6 and has since been pulled from circulation, the suit also takes aim at the social media posts used to promote it, according to The Times.
John Harris, one of the development's owners, framed the filing as a long-overdue response to what he sees as ongoing misrepresentation. "Now it's time for us to stand up, finally," he told The New York Times. Attorney Chris Hilton noted that Jones was not the only possible target — several others could have faced suit — but that the Feb. 6 show's unusually wide viewership made him the logical first defendant, according to The Times.
Having faced criticism from across the political spectrum for years, Colony Ridge now appears to be taking an aggressive posture in its own defense. A settlement reached last month closed out a federal case the Biden administration brought against the developer in late 2023, in which the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had accused the company of discriminatory and deceptive lending practices aimed at Hispanic customers who lacked established credit, according to The Times.
