Convicted Capitol Rioter Sues CNN For Defamation

A man who was convicted of misdemeanor charges for participating in the Capitol Riot of January 6th has filed a defamation lawsuit against cable news network CNN – And he’s probably going to win. CNN made the egregious mistake of implying that the man had been arrested for felony offenses for charges that he had not been hit with, and that is a surefire way to get yourself sued. Sloppy journalism costs a lot of money, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.

Link – https://www.rawstory.com/jacob-hiles/

Check out our merch by visiting our store: https://www.buyrof.com/

Subscribe to our podcast: http://www.ROFPodcast.com

Become a member today!: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYWIEbibRcZav6xMLo9qWWw/join

Support us by becoming a monthly patron on Patreon, and help keep progressive media alive!: https://www.patreon.com/TheRingofFire

Spread the word! LIKE and SHARE this video or leave a comment to help direct attention to the stories that matter. And SUBSCRIBE to stay connected with Ring of Fire’s video content!

Support Ring of Fire by subscribing to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/theringoffire

Be sociable! Follow us on:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RingofFireRadio
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RingofFireMedia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ringoffirenetwork/

*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

A convicted capital Rioter, who was convicted on, uh, misdemeanor charges for their involvement of the events of January 6th is now suing C Nnn for defamation. Because even though the rioter, as I said, was convicted, so I guess by definition that does make them a capital rioter, CNN engaged in probably one of the worst journalistic blunders I think I’ve ever seen. So here’s what happened. You had this capitol Rioter, um, who basically what, uh, they, they were charged with, uh, uh, two sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to complete 60 hours of community service. Uh, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building. Okay? So basically that amounts to nothing more than like trespassing. You know? Yes, you were there, you were parading, picketing or what have you. And so we’re gonna hit you with probation, do some community service, and you’re good to go.
You weren’t violent, you weren’t knocking people out, you weren’t stealing stuff. We didn’t catch you breaking anything. You were just there. So here’s your sentence. And the guy said, sure, misdemeanor charges. I’m guilty. Go ahead. So, and, and by the way, I think I said convicted earlier, obviously he pleaded guilty, so that’s what it is. He pleaded guilty to these misdemeanor charges. Now, c n n decided to run a headline that says, US Capitol police officer indicted on obstruction of justice charges in connection with January 6th. They then went on to say that he engaged in felonious criminal activity, of which he was not charged, or, oh, I’m sorry, that was from the legal complaint. They also claimed c n N did that he wanted to start a revolution, and of course, that he had been charged with obstruction of justice.
CNN failed basic journalistic practices trying to target this specific individual that had pleaded guilty to this misdemeanor charge. And here’s what gets me about this. CNN didn’t need to do that. I mean, you didn’t need to try to make this guy look bad. He already admitted, yeah, I was there. I did this. I participated in people walking into the capitol. Okay? There are far worse things in people that happened that day than, you know, the random people who got, you know, caught up in it and did go in there, and sure they should face justice and this man did. But CNN say, oh, he is obstruction of justice. You know, they wanna to start a revolution.
They also, uh, apparently suggested that he had been hit with felony charges, which of course is completely untrue. He’s going to win his defamation lawsuit like a hundred percent. There is no way he is going to lose this suit, and CNN deserves it. Now, the reason I’m even telling this story today is because we get a lot of people all the time and the comments, I get ’em on social media, get emails like, why are you saying alleged? Why are you not calling this person a criminal? It’s because legally you can’t do that. Like that is one of the basic tenants of defamation, slander, libel laws, is you cannot accuse somebody of committing a crime. You cannot call them a criminal unless they have been convicted, or of course, pleaded guilty like that is defamation 1 0 1. Everybody in this business knows that c n n has been doing this longer than literally anyone else, and they still flubbed it for no reason. If you wanted to run a story about some of the worst capitol rioters out there, the ones beating the hell outta police officers, you should have done that. You didn’t even have to make this person into a story.

• Breaking News