Elon Musk sued for defamation by same lawyer who won Alex Jones Sandy Hook lawsuit

Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, SpaceX and the social media site X, is facing a defamation lawsuit filed in Travis County on Monday for accusations that a 22-year-old Jewish man in California was posing as a neo-Nazi.

Houston-based attorney Mark Bankston, with the Farrar & Ball law firm, sued Musk on behalf of Benjamin Brody after one of the world's richest men made a series of posts promoting a conspiracy theory that Brody was disguised as a neo-Nazi at a rally in Portland as part of a "false flag" operation.

The lawsuit asks for a trial by jury and for an amount to exceed $1 million.

"Musk personally leveled these accusations against Ben Brody, it has led to severe personal harassment and permanent damage to his reputation," the lawsuit said.

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Bankston previously won a $45 million defamation lawsuit against Alex Jones after a jury found that Jones had promoted conspiracy theories related to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. That lawsuit was also filed in Travis County.

Bankston's lawsuit comes after an event in Portland in June where members of two far-right, white supremacist organizations, the Proud Boys and the Rose City Nationalists, fought with each other when members of both attended an LGBTQ Pride festival, something far-right groups have been reported to do in an attempt to instigate fights with progressives.

The lawsuit said one of the members of the Rose City Nationalists had their mask pulled down, leading many right-leaning internet sleuths to try to identify the person as a way to promote a conspiracy theory that they were leftist or Antifa actors pretending to be neo-Nazis as part of a "psyop."

An internet account identified Brody and posted a picture of the 22-year-old from his fraternity that said he wanted to work in government, the lawsuit said. A user of X, formerly Twitter, posted the accusation against Brody in response to one of Musk's posts asking if the unmasked people were ever identified. Musk responded by saying "very odd," which received numerous responses from people claiming it wasn't Brody, the lawsuit said.

As the rumor spread, Brody eventually made a video that he posted to Instagram where he went over receipts from his debit card that showed he was in California during the time of the incident. The lawsuit shows that Musk continued promoting the conspiracy theory that Brody was a person pretending to be a neo-Nazi.

Days after the initial incident, the lawsuit shows that Musk responded to another post saying that of the two unmasked members of the Rose City Nationalists, "Looks like one is a college student (who wants to join the govt) and another is maybe an Antifa member, but nonetheless a probable false flag situation."

The post by Musk was viewed 1.2 million times by X users, the lawsuit said, along with an unquantifiable number of people online.

"Elon Musk, the most followed user on Twitter, is perhaps the most influential of all influencers, and his endorsement of the accusation against Ben galvanized other social media influencers and users to continue their attacks and harassment, as well as post accusations against Ben that will remain online forever," the lawsuit said. "In sum, Ben has suffered severe emotional harm and enormous damage to his reputation and public image."

Additionally, the lawsuit says that Musk was made aware through his lawyers of Brody's defamation claims and that Musk hadn't taken down the post or taken any steps to "retract the accusation."

"It has become clear that Musk will not stop unless someone stops him," the lawsuit said. "It seems that responsibility now falls upon a shy young man whose world has been shaken by Musk's reckless conduct."

The lawsuit is far from the first defamation suit involving Musk. This includes a defamation suit against Musk in 2018 when Vernon Unsworth, a diver who rescued 13 people from a cave in Thailand, claimed that Musk falsely accused him of being a “pedo guy.” Unsworth ultimately lost the case in 2019.

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Musk's posts about Tesla have also landed him in hot water with the Securities and Exchange Commission as CEO of the Austin-based electric car company when he wrote a post in 2018 that he had “funding secured” to take the company private at $420 a share. Musk and security regulators ultimately settled the case with a fine and a requirement that his posts be approved by a Tesla attorney. In May, a judge ruled Musk still must have his posts reviewed and cannot back out of the settlement.

In recent months, the billionaire has also engaged with a number of accounts posting on X about right-wing rhetoric, conspiracy theories and talking points, and Musk has been known to post his own controversial messages.

Musk claims X has seen a massive loss of advertisers since his purchase, something the billionaire blamed on the Anti-Defamation League, a high-profile Jewish organization that aims to combat hate and antisemitism. Musk said in September that he was considering suing the group for defamation if ad revenue didn’t improve. It’s unclear if Musk still plans to sue. At the time ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called Musk and X's recent actions "dangerous and deeply irresponsible."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Elon Musk facing libel lawsuit after amplifying false neo-Nazi claims