3 Missouri state senators sued for defamation over posts about Chiefs parade shooting
Denton Loudermill of Olathe, Kansas, sued state Sens. Rick Brattin, Denny Hoskins and Nick Schroer over messages accusing him of being a shooter and "illegal alien." Denton Loudermill, a Kansas man, has sued three Missouri state senators, Rick Brattin, Denny Hoskins and Nick Schroer for defamation over social media posts accusing him of being a shooter and an illegal alien. The posts were published after the Chiefs parade shooting, which resulted in the death of KKFI DJ Lisa Lopez-Galvan and injuries to 22 others. The lawsuits claim that the actions of the four defendants were "willful, wanton, reckless, and malicious" and seek a minimum of $75,000 from each defendant for damages Louderm has suffered since his image was linked to the shooting.
Published : 2 months ago by Missouri Independent in General
Denton Loudermill of Olathe, Kansas, sued state Sens. Rick Brattin, Denny Hoskins and Nick Schroer over messages accusing him of being a shooter and "illegal alien."
“The publication of the false representation that plaintiff was an ‘illegal alien’ and a ‘shooter’ was not made in good faith nor was it made by defendant with any legitimate interest in making or duty to make such assertions,” the lawsuit against Brattin states.
The violence, tied to a dispute among the partiers, led to the death of KKFI DJ Lisa Lopez-Galvan and left 22 others injured. Three men, none of whom is an immigrant, face state murder charges for their role in the shootings and three others face federal firearms charges for selling guns involved in the shootings.
Loudermill, who was born in Kansas, was detained briefly because he was too slow to leave the area of the shooting, he told The Independent in an interview last month. At the time, he said he was contemplating lawsuits against any public officials who posted false information about him and later refused to apologize.
The lawsuits claim that the actions of the four defendants were “willful, wanton, reckless, and malicious” and seek a minimum of $75,000 from each defendant for damages Loudermill said he has suffered since his image was linked to the shooting.
The first social media account to accuse Loudermill of being the shooter and in the country illegally was on an account on X, formally known as Twitter, with the name Deep Truth Intel. That post, with a seated photo of Loudermill in handcuffs, incorrectly identified him with a name associated with misinformation posted after other shootings, including an October mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, that left 18 dead.
“Denton is an Olathe native, a father of three & a proud @Chiefs fan,” the post states. “He’s not a mass shooter. Images of him being detained for being intoxicated & not moving away from the crime scene at the Chiefs rally have spread online. He just wants to clear his name.”
Each states that the defendants’ “false assertions about plaintiff were reposted and widely circulated to more than 100,000 persons around the world who had interactions or engagements with defendant’s false assertions about plaintiff.”
Topics: Crime, Lawsuits