A Tennessee Republican is facing a defamation lawsuit for a social media post in which he wrongly accused a Kansas man of being a mass shooter.
Denton Loudermill Jr. has taken legal action by filing a lawsuit on Monday. The lawsuit comes in response to a tweet posted by Rep. Tim Burchett, who suggested that Loudermill was the shooter at a Super Bowl victory parade in Missouri on February 14th. During the parade, a tragic incident occurred resulting in the death of one person and the injury of at least 25 others.
On February 15th, Burchett posted a photo on X showing Loudermill being held by police during the shooting. The caption stated that one of the shooters involved in the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade has been identified as an illegal alien.
Loudermill was not the shooter. Prosecutors have charged three adults and three juveniles in connection with the shooting. According to the lawsuit, Loudermill was briefly stopped at the parade location because the police claimed he was moving “too slow.” It is important to note that he was never charged with a crime.
The lawsuit states that the claims made by the defendant, referring to the plaintiff as an ‘alien,’ ‘illegal alien,’ and a ‘shooter,’ were false and spread among the defendant’s followers.
According to the lawsuit, Burchett’s tweet had been shared almost 22,000 times and garnered 7.2 million views by the morning of February 18th.
On February 19th, the congressman took to X to address and clarify his previous statements, although it seems that he may still be misunderstanding the concept of Loudermill.
Representative Burchett shared his awareness of a mistake in one of his previous posts where he wrongly identified one of the shooters as an illegal alien. He acknowledged that this was based on incorrect news reports and promptly removed the post.
In a tweet dated February 19, a “community note” clarified that news organizations did not identify Loudermill as a potential shooter, but rather shared a photograph of him being detained by the police.
Burchett’s spokesperson chose not to provide any comments.
Loudermill revealed that he had been subjected to death threats in the aftermath of the congressman’s online remarks.
In an interview with The Washington Post, he expressed his belief that the consequences of the situation would continue to affect him, while the other party involved would eventually move on. He acknowledged the ongoing scrutiny and judgment he would face due to the remarks made by the other person.
Loudermill is requesting $75,000 in compensation.
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