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Originally Posted by btimbit
Yeah I mentioned it a few pages back as well, but I really wouldn't be shocked to see a defamation case. Unless he wants to just disappear into normalcy and not make a big deal out of it, but he definitely does have a case. MSNBC was particularly disgusting
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Examples? I'm not arguing, I'm just curious how exactly he was defamed.
I think the only factual information that was routinely erroneously stated was the transporting of a weapon across state lines. However, to claim defamation there must be some harm in the statement so even if the media ought to have known he drove then picked up his gun, is there reasonable harm there? I mean who cares if he drove and picked up his gun or picked up his gun and drove outside of the law?
As for white supremacist, in order to claim defamation you must prove a guilty state of mine or negligence. The "actual malice" standard when it comes to public figures. Unlike that grinning Trump kid where media had access to the entire video but only reviewed/shared certain aspects of the video to reframe the content, there was malice. In this scenario we have Rittenhouse throwing up white power symbols, or at least a symbol some believe to be white power, with members of the Proud Boys. An organization that has been deemed a domestic terrorist group in Canada because of its ties to white supremacy and violent far right rhetoric.
It will differ by state as there is no federal law but the bar for defamation in the states is very high thanks to the First Amendment. It may make sense to settle instead of fight in court, but I am not so sure there's any clear cut defamation based on the little I have saw. Again, maybe you have better examples.