Judge Shoots Down Elon Musk’s Attempt to Dismiss Defamation Suit From Jewish Student Smeared as a Nazi
Sipa via AP Images
A Texas judge overseeing the defamation suit against Elon Musk for allegedly smearing a Jewish student as a Nazi refused his legal team’s request to dismiss the case.
Back in October, Ben Brody, a 22-year-old college student, sued the billionaire for libel by claiming Musk amplified posts on X, formerly Twitter, that wrongly identified him as a member of a right-wing extremist group.
Brody was accused of being involved in a fight between masked individuals apart of the Proud Boys and the Rose City Nationalists at a Portland event in June 2023. An anonymous X account screenshotted one man’s face from the brawl while accompanying it next to a picture of Brody.
Another user sent Musk the post after he asked, “Who were the unmasked individuals?” The billionaire then responded to the post about Brody by writing, “Very odd.”
Another user tweeted about Brody and said, “Remember when they called us conspiracy theorists for saying the feds were planting fake Nazis at rallies?”
“Always remove their masks,” Musk responded.
In his lawsuit, Brody noted that the claims about his involvement with the far-right groups are “utterly profane and blasphemous.”
However, on Wednesday, Brody’s attorney Mark Bankston revealed that Musk’s attempts to have the case dismissed altogether were foiled. Bankston also represented the families of Sandy Hook victims in their successful defamation suit against Alex Jones.
“Elon Musk’s attorneys called it ‘a shakedown,’ but I am proud to announce that today a Texas judge has rejected Musk’s attempts to dismiss the lawsuit I brought on behalf of Ben Brody, a Jewish college student who was falsely accused of being a neo-Nazi rioter,” Bankston wrote on X.
Elon Musk’s attorneys called it “a shakedown,” but I am proud to announce that today a Texas judge has rejected Musk’s attempts to dismiss the lawsuit I brought on behalf of Ben Brody, a Jewish college student who was falsely accused of being a neo-Nazi rioter.
— Mark Bankston (@BankstonAtLaw) May 29, 2024
He concluded, “Musk attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed through “anti-SLAPP,” which required us to produce “clear and specific evidence” for every element of Brody’s claim. Despite facing this challenge at the outset of the case, we prevailed.”
Musk did not respond on social media to the latest developments in the case.
