Missouri senators' immunity claims challenged in defamation suit over Chiefs parade shooting – Missouri Independent

Loudermill, born in Kansas, was arrested briefly because he took too long to leave the area of ​​the shooting, he told The Independent in a statement. interview earlier this year.

He was photographed with his hands behind his back, sitting on a sidewalk. An account on X, officially known as Twitter, with the name Deep Truth Intel used the photo and called Loudermill an “illegal immigrant” under arrest as the shooter.

This later appeared in messages from the Missouri Freedom Caucus, the group of six Republican senators who battled GOP leaders in the Senate. The post was deleted and replaced with one affirmatively stating that it had nothing to do with the shooting.

Brattin, Hoskins and Schroer, along with U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, a Republican from Tennessee, also spread incorrect information on social media, including the Deep Truth Intel post or a similar post with Loudermill's photo.

Burchett is also sued by Loudermill and is challenging jurisdiction in federal court in Kansas. Burchett does not claim any form of official immunity for his position.

In documents written by Assistant Attorney General Jeremiah Morgan, Brattin, Hoskins and Schroer sought to link their statements to their official duties.

Brattin's first post linking Loudermill to the shooting, since deleted, demanded “#POTUS CLOSE THE BORDER” and incorporated the deleted post from Deep Truth Intel.

This is a political statement from an elected official, Morgan wrote of Brattin's post.

“The defendant's statement, addressed to the President of the United States, was a statement about security at the southern border – a matter of obvious national and political importance,” he wrote.

Hoskins' version of X shared a screenshot of the Deep Truth Intel post and blamed President Joe Biden and Kansas City political leaders for making the shooting possible.

“Fact – President Biden's open border policies and cities that promote themselves as sanctuary cities like #Kansas City are inviting violent and illegal immigrants into the United States,” Hoskins posted.

That post has been deleted, but in a Feb. 14 post without a photo, Hoskins wrote that “information I've seen” indicates that “at least one of the suspected shooters is an illegal immigrant and all three people arrested are violent repeat offenders.

Hoskins covered it with “IF THIS IS ACCURATE” and repeating conservative rhetoric to stop immigration and restrict cities that help immigrants, blaming crime on “liberal city catch-and-release policies.”

Morgan's defense of this statement is almost identical to that raised for Brattin's post.

“Defendant's statement, addressed to the President of the United States, was a statement on policies related to border security and citizens' rights protected by the Second Amendment – matters of obvious national and political importance and importance “, the file states.

Schroer was the least confident post on Loudermill's immigration and arrest status among the three currently being prosecuted.

Schroer's post included a link to Burchett's post stating, in Loudermill's photo, that “one of the shooters at the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade has been identified as an illegal alien.”

“Can we get a confirmation or denial from local authorities or law enforcement? » Schroer wrote on People deserve answers.

This message, Morgan wrote on behalf of Schroer, is a call for transparency.

“A statement calling for greater government transparency in investigations surrounding a tragic event is exactly the kind of 'political formula'[on]“This legislative immunity exists to protect,” Morgan wrote.

The official claims obscure the nature of the messages, Loudermill's lawyers wrote.

“Calling Plaintiff an illegal immigrant and a shooter was highly offensive to Plaintiff and caused him injury,” they wrote.

The four Republicans Loudermill sued claimed they did not direct their messages to a Kansas audience and that they had no personal connection to Kansas that would give the federal court jurisdiction in the matter.

Loudermill's lawyers responded that a large number of people in Kansas saw the post and that Loudermill suffered reputational damage in the state where he lives.

Bailey's office's intervention to defend the lawmakers drew sharp criticism from some quarters.

On May 16, the day before this year's legislative session ended, Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee's Summit Republican and bitter enemy of members of the Freedom Caucus, attempted to edit daily log to read that “the Missouri Senate believes that the Attorney General's Office should not spend money from the state's legal expense fund” to defend Hoskins, Schroer and Brattin.

And Gov. Mike Parson issued an order last month no payment related to lawsuits must be certified by the State Legal Fee Fund “without my approval or a court order.”

Missourians, Parson wrote, “should not be held responsible for legal costs related to judgments owed to state senators who falsely attacked a private citizen on social media.”