College grad sues Elon Musk for defamation for falsely naming him as a neo-Nazi rioter in Portland in a series of tweets
A 22-year-old college graduate is suing Elon Musk for defamation after the social media site owner falsely named him as a neo-Nazi rioter involved in a brawl between the Proud Boys and a rival extremist group during an Oregon Pride event in July.
Ben Brody, 22, sued Musk on October 2 in Texas state court. He claims he was harassed and targeted after Musk on
Brody – who is Jewish – is seeking more than $1 million in damages against Musk.
In video footage of the skirmish, one of the Proud Boys unmasked a member of RCN and viewers began identifying the member, with some claiming it was Brody.
However, Brody claims it wasn’t him and to this day the unmasked member has not been properly identified.
Ben Brody, 22, sued Musk on October 2 in Texas state court. The Jewish California resident is seeking more than $1 million in damages against Musk
Brody claims he was harassed after Musk accused Brody of being involved in a fight between the Proud Boys and the neo-Nazi group Rose City Nationalists. At some point in the fight, one of the members was unmasked and quickly covered his face in panic. Users soon started identifying him and incorrectly linked him to Brody
On June 24, members of the Portland Proud Boys attended the first-ever Pride Night Fest in Oregon City to disrupt the event and spread anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
At the same festival were members of RCN, a neo-Nazi group. Both groups were already ‘fighting’ with each other and at the festival it escalated and led to violence.
Members of the Proud Boys began hitting RCN members with American flagpoles and shouting ‘get out!’.
In the middle of the fight, one of the members was unmasked and quickly covered his face in panic.
In an attempt to identify the member, one account incorrectly said it was Brody. The user has posted all of Brody’s personal information to his account.
The information soon reached Musk and without fact-checking the user’s claims, Musk took it upon himself to comment on the matter.
Since then, Brody has been continuously harassed by users and was eventually forced to make a statement, the lawsuit alleges.
Under U.S. law, defamation is defined as a method of defamation by means of a written or oral statement or representation that creates an undue unfavorable impression.
On June 24, members of the Portland Proud Boys attended the first-ever Pride Night Fest in Oregon City to disrupt the event and spread anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
At the same festival were members of RCN, a neo-Nazi group. Both groups were already ‘fighting’ with each other and at the festival it escalated and led to violence
Some viewers, including Musk, claimed that the incident of far-right violence was false, falsely claiming that the neo-Nazi group’s members were actually federal agents.
The lawsuit states: “In yet another example of Elon Musk’s serial pattern of defamation, he falsely told the world that Ben Brody participated in a violent street fight on behalf of a neo-Nazi extremist group.
At the time of publication, Musk tweeted: “Looks like one is a student (wanting to join the government) and the other might be an Antifa member, but a likely false flag situation nonetheless.”
However, the lawsuit claims that this is where the problem started.
“Musk has entered into a consistent pattern of making ‘reckless’ false statements with impunity, and that his posts have sparked a wave of harassment and threats,” the lawsuit said.
Musk’s actions appear to be fueled by his ever-growing addiction to posting on Twitter, the social media platform he purchased in 2022.
Musk tweeted: “Looks like one is a student (wanting to join the government) and the other might be an Antifa member, but a likely false flag situation nonetheless.”
Members of the Proud Boys began hitting RCN members with American flagpoles and shouting, “get out!”
In an attempt to identify the member, one account incorrectly said it was Brody. The user has posted all of Brody’s personal information to his account.
The lawsuit states: “In yet another example of Elon Musk’s serial pattern of defamation, he falsely told the world that Ben Brody participated in a violent street fight on behalf of a neo-Nazi extremist group.”
In a now-deleted Instagram video, Brody said, “My family and I are just being completely harassed, and I would like to clear up any confusion if I need to.
“This is just so ridiculous and I just can’t believe this is happening to me right now.”
He also posted receipts from his bank card showing he was in California at the time of the incident.
Brody has since deleted all his social media accounts.
His attorney, Mark Bankston, took the stage to outline his client’s defense. In a series of tweets, Bankston explained and answered all the likely questions regarding the lawsuit.
Read more of his tweets here:
Ben knows that unless he tries to hold Musk accountable for such a reckless false statement, many people will continue to believe the accusation or view him with a cloud of suspicion.
‘Readers of Musk’s tweet could not judge the quality of Musk’s source (which was in reality a weird extremist Groyper). They just had to take his word for it that he had seen information that supported the rumor that Ben was the unmasked neo-Nazi,” Bankston continued.
“Musk was informed through his lawyers on August 9 of the circumstances supporting Ben’s defamation claim, as well as Ben’s distress that Musk had not taken steps to withdraw his accusation.
“Musk refuses to issue a retraction, refused to apologize and will not engage in any discussion of Ben’s defamation claim. Musk’s lawyer has even indicated that Musk will try to shift the fees if Ben files a lawsuit,” Bankston revealed.