Alex Jones and Marco Rubio in heated clash at Twitter and Facebook hearing: 'Don't touch me'

'You're not going to get arrested,' Florida senator tells right wing conspiracy theorist. 'I'll take care of it myself'

Right wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and senator Marco Rubio clashed after a congressional hearing with executives from Facebook and Twitter, in which they attempted to assure politicians that they were capable of protecting November’s midterm elections from foreign interference.

As the former Republican presidential nominee spoke to reporters after testimony from Facebook’s chief operation officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Mr Jones began talking over him.

He has accused the tech giants of censoring conservative voices after they suspended his conspiracy theory website Infowars last month. After sitting in the front row of the hearing, he was later seen declaring that he had come to “face my accusers".

Pretending to be a Russian bot, he shouted homophobic insults at senators and made bleeping noises as he walked around corridors.

After spotting Mr Rubio, he moved in on his interview and attempted to elicit a response from him about his website's treatment.

“Is that a heckler at a press gaggle?” Mr Rubio said. “I just don’t know who you are, man. I don’t really read your website.”

At one point, Mr Jones patted the Florida Republican on the shoulder.

“Get your hand off me. Don't touch me again, man," Mr Rubio said.

After Mr Jones suggested that Mr Rubio would try and get him arrested, the Florida senator replied: "You're not going to get arrested. I'll take care of it myself.”

Mr Jones then responded: "Rubio just threatened to physically take care of me. Look at him, he's so mad. You're not going to silence me. You're not going to silence America. You are a little gangster thug."

As the conversation ended Mr Rubio called Mr Jones “a clown” as he walked away.

Mr Jones responded by calling him a “frat boy” and a “little punk”.

He had earlier livestreamed his arrival at the hearing on Twitter. Large parts of it were difficult to follow or indecipherable, but he shouted a number of insults as well as making strange remarks towards the camera.