Beck: Bombing Victim I Wrongly Accused Was An 'Involuntary' Public Figure

[DonViejo]

By TOM KLUDT Published JULY 24, 2014, 9:35 AM EDT

Abdulrahman Alharbi was a victim in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, but Glenn Beck wrongly accused the Saudi Arabian student of being a suspect in the deadly explosions. According to Beck, Alharbi was fair game.

The Washington Post reported Thursday on a novel legal defense employed by Beck in the defamation suit filed by Alharbi earlier this year. Alharbi, who sustained minor injuries in the blast, is suing Beck and his network, The Blaze, for implicating him in the bombing even after he was cleared by authorities.

Beck's legal team contends that the conservative radio host, who called Alharbi the "money man" in the bombing plot and said the student faced deportation for "terrorist activities," is actually the real victim in this case.

WaPo reported that Beck's court filings said Alharbi is seeking to stifle the pundit's First Amendment rights and that Alharbi was an "involuntary" public figure — a standard that if met, according to the newspaper, would render Beck's errant observations all but irrelevant in court.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/glenn-beck-abdulrahman-alharbi-defense

[DetlefK]

1. If the court falls for that defense, that will have grave consequences.

Almost everybody can be found on the internet with publicly accessible information.
-> As soon as people know who you are or decide to talk about you, you are an "involuntary public figure".
-> As soon as they made you an "involuntary public figure" they have the right to spread all sorts of damaging rumors about you and there's nothing you can do about it.

[rocktivity]

2. I guess it takes an involuntary public figure to know one.

Alharbi didn't become a public figure until YOU volunteered him, Beck!


rocktivity

[Gormy Cuss]

3. ^^^This^^^

What a shameless defense. I hope Beck not only loses but loses BIG.