A man falsely accused of being a federal agent posing as a neo-Nazi by Elon Musk has sued the tech billionaire, accusing him of defamation by promoting social media posts that falsely identified him.
Student Ben Brody, 22, is seeking $1 million and a jury trial in Texas, where the lawsuit was filed Monday and where Musk, 52, has a home.
Ben was at the center of a social media witch hunt earlier this year after he was accused of being a federal agent who was part of a neo-Nazi group that clashed with a local Proud Boys chapter at a Pride event in Oregon City.
Footage of the brawl, which took place in June, sparked the manhunt after a neo-Nazi who removed his mask bore a superficial resemblance to Brody.
Social media users started harassing Ben after he found a short post he wrote for his Jewish sorority that showed he wanted to work for the government.
Elon Musk (photo) has been involved in several lawsuits in recent years because of his tweets
Ben Brody (pictured) says his life was turned upside down by Musk’s comments
Ben Brody demands $1 million from Tesla CEO
Lawyers for Brody claim Musk’s tweets about him, which are still appearing at time of publication, were defamatory
Conspiracy theorists countered this, claiming that Ben was a federal agent who was part of a “false flag operation” orchestrated by the US government to destabilize the Proud Boys.
The lawsuit, filed by Mark Bankston, an attorney who successfully sued Alex Jones last year on behalf of the parents of children killed in Sandy Hook, includes screenshots on Ben’s behalf of Musk engaging in conversations with users spreading the messages about Brody.
In one post, Musk described the attack as a “likely false flag situation,” while in another post in response to an alleged photo of Ben, he said, “always take off their masks.”
Musk’s posts, seen by millions of users, were still set to X at the time of publication.
Ben’s lawsuit alleges that Musk’s repeated repetition of these claims led to “severe personal harassment and permanent damage to his reputation.”
The lawsuit alleges that Ben and his family were “repeatedly deceived and suffered a massive wave of harassment from belligerent strangers.”
Musk accused Brody of being a federal agent posing as a neo-Nazi
“Musk’s personal endorsement of the false accusation against Ben Brody resonated across the internet, turning the accusation from an anonymous rumor into a gospel truth for many individuals, and leading others to use Musk’s endorsement to justify their desire to kill Ben Brody and harassing his family,” Brody said. read lawsuit.
“The reality is that too many powerful people with huge audiences are reckless in their accusations against private individuals.
“The damage they cause cannot easily be repaired by excuses or contradiction, no matter how convincing. Reputation restoration, compensation for harm and effective deterrence can only take place in our courts.”
Musk has been embroiled in several controversies over his use of social media, which has even drawn the ire of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused the tech billionaire of defrauding investors in a single 2018 tweet.
In recent months he has used X, formerly known as Twitter, to antagonize major figures around the world.
On Monday he mocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s pleas for wartime aid.
Musk posted a meme with a photoshopped image of the Ukrainian leader and the caption: “If it’s been five minutes and you haven’t asked for a billion dollars in help yet.”
Musk also owns SpaceX, which provides Starlink satellite communications services vital to Ukraine’s defense efforts, but his comments have at times angered Kiev since the full-scale invasion Russia launched last February.
MailOnline has contacted Elon Musk’s lawyers for comment.