BREAKING: Trump, Radical Extremist Ian Cheong Libel Deceased Garrett Foster, Should Expect Lawsuit
Austin PD, per NYT: "The driver opened fire from inside the car as Mr. Foster approached. Another person in the crowd pulled out a handgun and shot at the vehicle as it sped away."
Austin PD, per NYT: "The driver opened fire from inside the car as Mr. Foster approached. Another person in the crowd pulled out a handgun and shot at the vehicle as it sped away."
PS/ I'll be stunned if Garrett Foster's family doesn't sue Ian Cheong. There is *no* evidence Garrett Foster fired on his killer—indeed, the *law enforcement* evidence Cheong and Trump *deliberately ignored to stoke political violence* says *unambiguously* the driver fired first.
PS2/ In the video there are two sets of shots from two different weapons. According to Austin Police Department—ignored by Trump and Cheong in favor of a *blog*—the driver fired first, Foster *never* fired, and a *third party* returned the driver's fire (which had killed Foster).
PS3/ This is some sick sh*t right here. The President of the United States ignored a statement by law enforcement to accuse a peaceful protestor exercising his Second Amendment rights of being an attempted murderer—and he libeled Foster in this way just to score political points.
PS4/ Here's the NYT story on this (below). Trump and the dangerous far-right radical Cheong cited, instead, the "Post Millennial"—a right-wing Canadian blog. That's right—not just the NYT but *Austin Police Department* was ignored in favor of a random rag. nytimes.com/2020/07/26/us/…
PS5/ Those wondering what cause of action might come from Foster's family are right to ask (I've used the term "libel" in the generic sense—i.e. an action that would be libel against a living person). A cause of action could be IIED (intentional infliction of emotional distress).
PS6/ To the extent Cheong's false statements may implicate or otherwise damage the reputation of Foster's protest partner—his girlfriend—by intimating the duo went to the rally to do violence, a libel action could theoretically be supportable. There may be other causes of action.
PS7/ I don't know what financial or reputational damage (or distress) could be caused to the Foster family, or what pecuniary consequences the estate could face, because Trump and Cheong chose to falsely accuse a dead man of attempted murder. It's something we'll have to track.
PS8/ Politically the cost should be clear: in the midst of "championing" law enforcement Trump publicly rejected a statement by law enforcement on a homicide—amplifying a foreign blogger instead—in order to spread a conspiracy theory about violence at a #BlackLivesMatter protest.
PS9/ A dead man can't sue—nor can his estate—for libel. The causes of action I've mentioned aside, the idea that Trumpists would deny the fact that libeling the dead is more morally odious than libeling the living and instead deem it a... defense?... of Cheong or Trump is *sick*.
PS10/ Then there's the separate question of *Twitter*. Does Twitter's ToS cover libeling the dead—even if a cause of action can't be brought for that specific tort? Should Twitter leave up a statement by Cheong and Trump falsely accusing a dead man of being an attempted murderer?
UPDATE/ A minute ago, Ian Miles Cheong retracted his claim—but not his first tweet. I wonder if this thread had any impact; I certainly hope it did. I've screenshotted both tweets at 9:35PM EST, in the event anyone connected to the Foster family wants to sue Cheong into oblivion.
UPDATE2/ Essentially—and this is *really* sick—Cheong feels he *can't* retract his initial, possibly tortious false claim that Foster was an attempted murderer...
...because that tweet was *retweeted by the President of the United States*. How *sad* are the times we live in now?
...because that tweet was *retweeted by the President of the United States*. How *sad* are the times we live in now?
UPDATE3/ I'm posting this screenshot to memorialize the fact that—as of 9:41PM EST—Trump still has the fake news falsely accusing a deceased peaceful protester and homicide victim of being an attempted murderer on his Twitter feed, making it (per the WH) an official WH statement.
UPDATE4/ I hope people will tweet at full-time journalists, especially WH correspondents for the major networks and cable news, asking them to query the WH on when this sick false claim—*rejecting* an investigation by law enforcement in favor of a foreign blogger—will be removed.
