American Muslim comedian Dean Obeidallah has filed a defamation lawsuit against a white supremacist website, the Daily Stormer, after it published an article accusing him of being the mastermind behind the terror attack in Manchester.

The Daily Stormer was recently kicked off of its domain on GoDaddy and was denied service by Google and a Chinese webhost. After the controversial website published a hateful, demeaning article about Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville last weekend, the website has been even more ostracized than before.

But on Wednesday, the site was live again for a few hours through a Russian domain. In a new article, the writers praised President Trump and claimed his relationship to Russian President Vladimir Putin is responsible for the website’s new domain. But Roskomnadzor, Russia’s watchdog monitoring hateful content on the internet, requested the Russia Network Information Center to take it down, which it did.

Obeidallah filed his suit around the same time, alleging that the Daily Stormer caused him to receive death threats and suffer from emotional distress. The publication first started targeting him after he wrote a piece for the Daily Beast in 2015, in which he urged the Republican Party to speak out against the white nationalists who supported Donald Trump’s candidacy for president.

Today I filed a lawsuit against The Daily Stormer and Andrew Anglin for defamation – there are not two sides to white supremacy. pic.twitter.com/AZxysvqykt

— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@Deanofcomedy) August 16, 2017

In response, the Daily Stormer wrote an article calling Obeidallah a terrorist. Then in June of this year, Obeidallah wrote another article and questioned why Trump wouldn’t use the phrase “white supremacist terrorism.” In response, the Daily Stormer published a text with the headline, “Dean Obeidallah, Mastermind Behind Manchester Bombing, Calls on Trump to Declare Whites the Real Terrorists.”

After that article, some people actually believed Obeidallah was a terrorist, and he started receiving threats. The Daily Stormer even fabricated tweets to look like Obeidallah had written them, taking responsibility for the terror attack in Manchester in May. One of them praised Allah and another said he had fled to safety in Syria.

“Defendants took numerous steps, including mixing fact with falsehood, in an effort to create confusion and convince readers that the entirety of the Article is, in fact, true,” the lawsuit says. The Daily Stormer’s publisher, Andrew Anglin, and ten other people who republished the article are listed as defendants. None of them have responded.

“Right wing publications have come after me for years for everything from my progressive views to the fact I’m Muslim–that’s par for the course. But I had never, ever seen anything like this,” Obeidallah said.

The lawsuit also states that the Daily Stormer is among the 200 most frequented websites in America, with over 3 million monthly visitors. Though it claims to publish news stories, it intentionally spread false information, the lawsuit says. But maybe this suit can help other victims of defamation. “No one deserves to be defamed and threatened online by a racist neo-Nazi mob simply for expressing your ideas and beliefs,” Obeidallah said.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Comedian Sues the Daily Stormer for Accusing Him of Manchester Terror Attack appeared first on Law Street.

It all started with a simple statement.

“The Obama administration turned a deaf ear to us and frankly, with President-elect Trump, we feel things are going to move in the right direction,” Matthew LeBretton, the VP of public affairs for New Balance, said to the the Wall Street Journal.

LeBretton said it was taken out of context. However, not quickly or loudly enough, as news of New Balance’s supposed public endorsement went viral.

His response was to a question regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); an initiative backed by President Obama, which Donald Trump vehemently opposed. As the only major shoe company still manufacturing its shoes in the states, New Balance said this program would hurt it.

With the statement coming off to many as an endorsement, people became angry, even to the point of burning their shoes and threatening to boycott the business.

@SoleCollector@newbalance good to know. I made a little bonfire tonight pic.twitter.com/yOdCTbQgac

— skreetware (@milftears) November 10, 2016

Videos of social media users lighting their shoes on fire, throwing them out, and even flushing them (kind of) down the toilet were posted all over social media.

. @Therealtesp@newbalancepic.twitter.com/8vdBRXEJzD

— Marcus H. Johnson (@smoothkobra) November 11, 2016

Just as some people responded with anger, others celebrated.

One such person was Andrew Anglin of The Daily Stormer, which hails itself as “America’s #1 Most-Trusted Republican News Source.”

“The official shoes of white people” aka New Balance, is trying to fix its PR disaster after Anglin published an article willing his readers to go out and buy New Balance shoes because “their brave act has just made them the official brand of the Trump Revolution.” This endorsement prompted New Balance to reply, trying to distance itself from some of the views of the alt-right.

pic.twitter.com/lXtWlCFkIV

— New Balance (@newbalance) November 15, 2016

“My statements aren’t political, this is policy related solely to TPP.” LeBretton told Buzzfeed News. “I’ve spoken on the record to The Boston Globe and other sources about our opposition to Obama’s footwear tax and the TPP.”

However, this led to Anglin publishing another article about the brand. This time he restated his endorsement and added that “the only logical thing for the company to do at this point would be to come out aggressively in support of Trump and Republicans and our nationalist agenda to make America great again.”

Additionally, he wrote that New Balance is “being attacked by Jews and others” for their statement in support for Trump, and against the TPP.

New Balance is one of many companies Americans are heavily scrutinizing following the election. Journalists and citizens criticized both Google and Facebook for their roles in fake news dissemination, and social media users have been circulating many other companies’ names for being pro-Trump and places to boycott.

Julia Bryant

Julia Bryant is an Editorial Senior Fellow at Law Street from Howard County, Maryland. She is a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Economics. You can contact Julia at JBryant@LawStreetMedia.com.

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