Asked about the possibility of future defamation litigation against public officials, an attorney working as Denton Loudermillâs legal advocate said: âWe are just getting startedâ
BY: HOLLY MCCALL
Denton âDennyâ Loudermill, the Kansas man who was erroneously accused of being the shooter at the Kansas City Chiefsâ victory parade, has filed a defamation suit against U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas, alleges Burchett shared photos of Loudermill on his personal social media account saying he was one of the shooters and referring to him as an âillegal alien.â
Loudermill, a native of Olathe, Kansas, attended the parade celebrating the Chiefsâ Super Bowl win. An argument broke out during the parade and ended in the shooting, which killed one person and wounded more than 20 people.
Loudermillâs lawsuit states that he attended the parade and was detained by police following the shooting for âmoving too slowâ as law enforcement was clearing the area. As he sat on a curb in handcuffs, people took photos of him and shared them on social media, according to the complaint.
Police did not charge Loudermill with any crime.
Burchett later deleted the tweet but included a screenshot of it that is still visible in a separate post.
Attorneys for Loudermilk allege he has received death threats as a result of Burchettâs post on X, formerly known as Twitter, and are asking $75,000 in damages for acts considered âwillful, wanton, reckless and malicious.â
A spokesman for Burchett said: âOur office is not able to comment on pending or active litigation.â
In February, Loudermill told The Independent that âsometimes Iâm afraid to go outside of my house or think that somebody whoâs going to come into my house because some people probably donât even see that I was innocent.â
Loudermillâs lawsuit did not include several members of the Missouri Senate Freedom Caucus, who also helped spread incorrect information about Loudermill and the mass shooting on social media.
Asked about the possibility of future defamation litigation against other public officials, LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, an attorney working as Loudermillâs legal advocate, said in an email to The Independent: âWe are just getting started.â
This story was originally published by the Tennessee Lookout, a States Newsroom affiliate.
The Independentâs Rudi Keller contributed to this story.