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DeRay McKesson. Photo courtesy of Comedy Central.
Summary: A Black Lives Matter leader is suing Judge Jeanine for allegedly spreading false information about him.
DeRay McKesson filed a lawsuit against Jeanine Pirro of Fox News. According to TMZ, the co-leader of the Black Lives Matter movement claimed that Pirro lied on air about him, saying that he had directed protestors to attack a cop.
In McKesson’s lawsuit, he stated that Pirro discussed a case against Black Lives Matter on September 28. While on the show “FOX & Friends,” the host said McKesson incited violence against police officers at a BLM rally, and in his lawsuit, McKesson said that this was incorrect.
The case that Pirro was discussing was one filed by a cop against BLM in 2016. A Baton Rouge officer alleged that McKesson had told protestors to riot against police, but in September of this year, the case was ruled in McKesson’s favor when a judge said that the leader was exercising free speech and had not called for violence.
The police officer also sued Black Lives Matter as if it were an organization, but the judge classified it as a movement and not an actual entity. After the Louisiana judge made his ruling, McKesson made a public statement that he was innocent.
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“It’s clear that I did nothing wrong that day and that the police were the only violent people in the streets,” Mckesson said. “The movement began as a call to end violence and that call remains the same today.”
In McKesson’s case against Pirro, he said that she said, “You’ve got a police officer who was injured, he was injured at the direction of DeRay McKesson.”
McKesson is suing for defamation because he believes Pirro knew her statement was false and that she was attempting to hurt his reputation as a civil rights activist.
Pirro is a staunch conservative, who has made statements denouncing Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Black Lives Matter and more.
Black Lives Matter was created as a response to the numerous cases of police brutality against black citizens, and it has been endorsed by celebrities such as Beyonce and Kim Kardashian. Some conservatives, however, see the movement as anti-police instead of anti-police brutality.
A Fox News spokesperson said that they will defend the case and that Pirro is protected by the First Amendment.
“We informed Mr. McKesson’s counsel that our commentary was fully protected under the First Amendment and the privilege for reports of judicial proceedings,” Fox News told TMZ. “We will defend this case vigorously.”
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