KANSAS CITY, Kan. – According to the U.S. District Court of Kansas, an Olathe man is suing a Tennessee congressman over posts accusing him of being a shooter at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade and an “illegal alien.”
On February 14, a mass shooting at the end of the Chiefs’ celebratory parade rally killed a woman and injured many others, including children.
A lawsuit has been filed in connection to X posts from Tim Burchett accusing a man in a photo, who was handcuffed and sitting on a curb, of being one of the shooters and an illegal alien.
Photos from Loudermill v Burchett lawsuit
According to court documents, Denton Loudermill Jr. was at the parade to celebrate the Super Bowl win but was not involved in the shooting. When shots were fired, Loudermill “froze as he tried to comprehend what was happening” while many others ran.
The lawsuit states that as Kansas City police were clearing the area, Loudermill was stopped and told he was moving “too slow.” Police handcuffed and sat Loudermill on a curb for about 10 minutes at which time a photo of him sitting there was shared on social media.
Police then walked Loudermill a couple of blocks away and took the handcuffs off of him, according to court documents. He was neither charged nor cited with a crime.
The following day, on February 15, Tennessee Congressman Burchett posted the image that circulated and claimed that “one of the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade shooters has been identified as an illegal Alien,” according to the lawsuit.
Loudermill’s lawyer claims that on February 18, Burchett posted “It has come to my attention that in one of my previous posts, one of the shooters was identified as an illegal alien. This was based on multiple incorrect news reports stating that. I have removed the post.”
The lawsuit states that Loudermill is not an “illegal alien” nor a “shooter” and that it was circulated to millions of people around the world who saw Burchett’s posts.
It also claims that the “false identification” has caused Loudermill to receive death threats and suffer mental distress. According to Loudermill’s attorney, he’s seeking at least $75,000 in damages.
