General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBlack Lives Matter leader sues Fox News
A civil rights activist is suing Fox News and network host Jeanine Pirro, alleging that she made "false and defamatory statements" about him while discussing the Black Lives Matter movement.
DeRay Mckesson, one of the movement's leaders, said that Pirro defamed him when she claimed during a "Fox & Friends" segment that he directed protesters to commit violence against police officers, according to The Baltimore Sun.
The lawsuit centers around remarks Pirro made on Sept. 29 while discussing the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a police officer who was injured during protests in Baton Rouge, La.
"Pirro's statements are untrue and further a narrative that I, and other activists, engage in violent protest," Mckesson told the Sun.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/black-lives-matter-leader-sues-fox-news/ar-BBGIn5C?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=edgsp
50 Shades Of Blue
(10,011 posts)flygal
(3,231 posts)uponit7771
(90,347 posts)Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)The First Amendment does not protect you from that!
jayschool2013
(2,312 posts)That's always the toughest hurdle to leap in a suit involving a public figure, but I can't imagine a more malicious person than Pirro.
0rganism
(23,957 posts)that always seemed like the squishiest part of the slander/libel laws to me -- if the defense can portray the plaintiff as a "public figure" then malicious intent standards apply, which are notoriously difficult to establish.
unfortunately as a leader/spokesman in a movement, no matter how amorphous, Mckesson probably does qualify.
rpannier
(24,330 posts)all qualify as public figures
I'm guessing that if you have a youtube channel, you probably now qualify as a public figure, no matter the content of your show
I think he would qualify as a public figure and I think he'll have a hard time proving malicious intent. All she has to do is claim that she heard from several anonymous police sources, or police and non-police sources, etc