Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

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Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby Hunter » Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:37 am

This just broke this morning, wow, this is crazy, BK is suing the entire right wing internet for civil rights violations and RICO.

This should be VERY interesting to watch, find the twitter feeds of the defendants and watch closely, they are already buzzing this morning and the suit was just filed at 9 am est.

You can find this at fighttherightradio.com, that is the site of left activist Bill Schmalfeldt his twitter is FTRRADIONEWS, he broke the story this morning on inside information and it will soon be all over the place I am sure.


This fight between the Breitbarts and BK has been going on twitter for several years now, anyone who has followed it knows it is very ugly, people have been SWATed all sorts of shit and now its come to a head I guess. Just wow. He may or may not win I dont know but this will be interesting to follow could set legal precedents for internet users. Id pay attention.


The plaintiff list looks like a “Who’s Who in the World of Conservative Bloggers.” According to a brief filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt Division, Brett Kimberlin, an ex-con who has turned to a life of promoting social justice, is suing over a dozen individuals and corporations for violating his civil rights, other torts involving state laws, and charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act, better known as RICO.

The defendants include: The National Bloggers Club, Ali Akbar, Patrick Frey, Erick Erickson, Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck, Aaron Walker, William Hoge, Lee Stranahan, Robert Stacy McCain, James O’Keefe, Mandy Nagy, Breitbart.com, The Franklin Center, Simon & Schuster, the pseudonymous blogger Kimberlin Unmasked, Mercury Radio Arts, the Blaze, the blogger known as “Ace of Spades” and the right wing blog “Red State.”

The 48-page complaint charges each individual and corporation with a variety of civil rights and state law violations, and maintains the defendants acted as part of an ongoing criminal organization.

Fight the Right Radio will have a full report later today, including a Scribd document posted online.

In his introduction, Kimberlin accuses the defendants of engaging in a “criminal racketeering enterprise” that violated his civil rights, including “widespread mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, intimidation, assault, extortion, threat of extortion, obstruction of justice and gang activity” for the purpose of harming Kimberlin and depriving him of his civil rights. Kimberlin is seeking a jury trial.

He is seeking compensatory and consequential damages in an amount exceeding $75,000; punitive damages “applicable to punish Defendants’ reprehensible conduct and to deter future occurrence”; and triple damages as authorized by the federal RICO statute.

In addition, Kimberlin will ask the court to award him declaratory relief in the form of an order “finding that Plaintiff had no involvement in any ‘swattings,’ (the practice of making a false distress call, claiming that a person is engaged in a life threatening activity, resulting in a mass response by police to the residence of an innocent individual);

An order forbidding the defendants from engaging in similar conduct against Kimberlin;

An order requiring the defendants to remove any “defamatory statements about swatting by Plaintiff” from their blogs or media over which they have control;

“Equitable relief as appropriate” which would include but not be limited to a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction barring the defendants from retaliating for his bringing this action;

All costs and fees incurred by the plaintiff, and any other relieve the court deems appropriate.

WHO ARE THE DEFENDANTS?

National Bloggers Club: Ostensibly a group created for the “protection of the first amendment rights” of right wing bloggers. Operated by defendant Ali Akbar, the organization originally claimed 501 (c) 3 status, a claim which proved to be false.

Ali Akbar: Head of the National Bloggers Club, CEO of the Vice and Victory Agency, creator of the “Bomber Sues Bloggers” website in which Akbar and co-defendants Hoge, McCain, Walker and “Kimberlin Unmasked” are raising money, presumably, to pay their “pro bono” attorney, F. Patrick Ostronic of Rockville, Md. Akbar also owns “Pundit Syndication, LLC” which publishes several right wing blogs, including “The Other McCain” and “Viral Read,” which are edited by co-defendant McCain. A co-defendant in an earlier lawsuit in which Kimberlin alleges a number of offenses, including defamation, stalking, harassment and other charges.

Patrick Frey: Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County who operates the conservative blog, “Patterico,” which has been extremely critical of Kimberlin, publishing numerous inflammatory articles about him.

Erick Erickson: Editor of the “Red State” Blog, former CNN contributor, who has claimed Kimberlin responsible for many “swattings.”

Glenn Beck: Owner of “The Blaze” website, former CNN and FOX News show host, who now does a pay-per-view show featuring his right wing fringe commentary. He has provided platforms for many of the co-defendants.

Aaron Walker: The fired attorney who created the “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” blog and who attempted to assist a blogger in his legal case against Kimberlin, offering legal services under a pseudonym. Walker is also charged in a separate lawsuit with Akbar and co-defendants McCain, Hoge, and “Kimberlin Unmasked” where they are accused of offering inducements to Kimberlin’s temporarily estranged wife if she would lie about him under oath to a court of law.

William Hoge: Also known as WJJ Hoge, owner and operator of the “Hogewash” blog, he publishes a daily tirade against Kimberlin publishing what Kimberlin calls “the false narrative” concerning Kimberlin’s past and present. Hoge was served with the complaint as he awaited his court hearing this morning in which this writer is seeking a motion to modify a peace order Hoge has placed against him. Also a co-defendant in the earlier Kimberlin lawsuit.

Lee Stranahan: Until recently, a writer for Breitbart.com, now an independent operator. A frequent critic of Kimberlin who allegedly coordinated his activities with other defendants in this case.

Robert Stacy McCain: Editor and Managing Editor of “The Other McCain” and “Viral Read,” blogs owned by Pundit Syndication and Ali Akbar. McCain has been a loud and frequent critic of Kimberlin, accusing him of pedophilia and ordaining murder. Also a co-defendant in the earlier Kimberlin lawsuit.

James O’Keefe: Associate of the late Andrew Breitbart, convicted in the attempted wiretapping of a congresswoman’s office. He has allegedly been instrumental in furthering the “false narrative” employed by the other bloggers in their writing about Kimberlin.

Mandy Nagy: Known as “Liberty Chick,” also until recently a writer for Breitbart.com. Involved in a conspiracy with Frey, Walker and others in Walker’s failed legal actions against Kimberlin in 2012.

Breitbart.com: The company founded by Andrew Breitbart which published defamatory blog posts about Kimberlin.

The Franklin Center: A right wing fundraising group which has also declared Kimberlin guilty of swatting.

Simon and Shuster: The publishing house that published O’Keefe’s book in which he accuses Kimberlin of swatting and other illegal activities.

Kimberlin Unmasked: An as-yet-to-be-identified blogger, also a co-defendant in Kimberlin’s previous lawsuit.

Mercury Radio Arts: A company that promotes Glenn Beck’s radio program.

The Blaze: A right wing blog owned by Glenn Beck.

Ace of Spades: A right wing blog that has printed the “false narrative” against Kimberlin.

RedState: A right wing blog, operated by co-defendant Erick Erickson.

No dates have been set for hearings. “Fight the Right Radio” will air/publish more information as it becomes available.


I know most of you know who BK is, he is a leftist activist and if you want to know his lurid past you can Wiki him. I dont want to get in to that, its been talked about plenty.



Here are some twitter accounts to follow:

@FTRRADIONEWS
@osbornink
@rsmccain
@wjjhoge
@liberty_chick
@ali
@aaronworthing
@stranahan
@bombersuesbloggers
@patterico
@Breitbartunmask


Websites to watch
Theothermccain.com (right wing site be warned)
Breitbartunmasked.com
Kimberlinunmasked.com
Fighttherightradio.com
Patterico.com



Any of the various Breitbart sites will be covering it too I am sure.




THE BASIC ARGUMENT HERE is that BK has served his time and the continued harassment from the Breitbots about HIS PAST is a violation of his civil rights. I have not given it enough thought yet to have an opinion but that is the bare bones of it.



Just to clarify this is an AMENDED LAWSUIT, last month BK filed suit against Stacy Mccain, Hoge, Akbar, Walker and the anonymous "Kimberlinunmasked" website owner, TODAY he amended the suit to include the rest of these people.


FIGHTTHERIGHTRADIO.COM
Last edited by Hunter on Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:08 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Right Wing Internet Being Sued by BK

Postby Wombaticus Rex » Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:57 am

Image

Seems to rest on the principle that authors are wholly responsible for the actions of their fanbase, which has been thrown out of many a courtroom in the past century.

Mixing up actors who legitimately targeted him with folks who are merely Right Wing celebs makes this appear to be a publicity stunt, rather than an actual suit.

My take: welcome to the fucking internet!
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Re: Right Wing Internet Being Sued by BK

Postby Hunter » Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:00 am

Wombaticus Rex » Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:57 am wrote:Image

Seems to rest on the principle that authors are wholly responsible for the actions of their fanbase, which has been thrown out of many a courtroom in the past century.

Mixing up actors who legitimately targeted him with folks who are merely Right Wing celebs makes this appear to be a publicity stunt, rather than an actual suit.

My take: welcome to the fucking internet!

Yes I tend to agree, I dont like the right wingers myself but this should be interesting, I am not sure I can support shutting speech down like that.


It could be a publicity stunt but IT IS a real suit, its been filed. Whether or not it gets tossed we will see. This story will be breaking all day and week.
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Re: Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby Hunter » Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:22 am

FWIW BK also sued a blogger (davefromqueens2) named Seth Allen last year, who used to post here on RI as "Socrates", he was blogging about BK's past and he sued him to shut him down, BK won the suit and a 100 dollar DEFAULT JUDGMENT because Mr Allen did not show up, he claims he was not served properly.

He will be covering this too at his twitter @prepostericity
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Re: Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby Wombaticus Rex » Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:23 am

Yeah, I remember being trolled a lot by davefromqueens a few years back. Wild. Small internets.
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Re: Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby Hunter » Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:27 am

Wombaticus Rex » Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:23 am wrote:Yeah, I remember being trolled a lot by davefromqueens a few years back. Wild. Small internets.

Yeap aint that crazy, he is the one who basically started the whole blog about BK trend and the breitbots picked up from him, then BK sued him and the whole thing went nuclear and is now coming to a head today. We will see what happens.


Breitbart and BK were bitter enemies and things were really heating up right before AB passed away. I have sort been watching an observer since the beginning of it all and it is mind blowing how ugly it has gotten on both sides. Just insane.
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Re: Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby Hunter » Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:42 am

And the right wing response, this is the viral read website edited by defendant Mccain and owned by defendant Ali Akbar.

http://www.viralread.com/2013/10/16/rep ... nd-others/



REPORT: Convicted Bomber Brett Kimberlin Files Federal Lawsuit Naming Michelle Malkin, Erick Erickson, Glenn Beck and Others
Previous
Viral Read Staff 16 mins ago 0

Bomber
Brett Kimberlin
criminal
federal
lawsuit
Michelle Malkin
RICO
terrorist

Law
News
Politics

Convicted bomber Brett Kimberlin filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday that names as defendants syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin, Red State editor Erick Erickson, talk radio host Glenn Beck, investigative journalist James O’Keefe and others, claiming they are part of a “criminal racketeering enterprise” under federal R.I.C.O. statutes.

Kimberlin personally handed a copy of the 48-page complaint to blogger John Hoge this monring at a Maryland court hearing where Kimberlin’s associate Bill Schmalfeldt failed in his appeal of a court order forbidding Schmalfeldt to continue his online harassment of Hoge. Kimberlin filed his federal suit in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Kimberlin is a former drug smuggler who was convicted in 1981 of a series of Indiana bombings and sentenced to 50 years in federal prison, but was paroled after serving only 17 years. In 1988, Kimberlin gained notoriety by falsely claiming to have sold marijuana to Vice President Dan Quayle, a claim subsequently promoted by Garry Trudeau’s “Doonsbury” comic strip. He was the subject of a 1996 book, Citizen K: The Deeply Weird American Journey of Brett Kimberlin, by journalist Mark Singer. After his release from prison, Kimberlin founded two 501(c) non-profit entities that have since collected more than $2 million in combined contributions.

Viral Read publisher Ali A. Akbar and editor in chief Robert Stacy McCain are also named as defendants in Kimberlin’s suit, although neither has been served with a summons in the case, nor have they been served in the state lawsuit Kimberlin filed last month in Montgomery County, Maryland, naming them as defendants along with Hoge, Virginia-based lawyer Aaron Walker, and the anonymous “Kimberlin Unmasked” site.



More at link.
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Re: Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby Hunter » Wed Oct 16, 2013 12:21 pm

Image



BK was in lots of Doonesbury comics, funny stuff.
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Re: Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby Hunter » Wed Oct 16, 2013 1:16 pm

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Re: Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby justdrew » Wed Oct 16, 2013 1:39 pm

wishing him all the luck in the world :thumbsup
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Re: Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby Hunter » Wed Oct 16, 2013 2:29 pm

justdrew » Wed Oct 16, 2013 1:39 pm wrote:wishing him all the luck in the world :thumbsup

I am a staunch supporter of free speech but I will say this at the risk of being a hypocrite, I have watched this all unfold over 3 years now on twitter because a few friends of mine on the left were attacked by the breitbots during all of this and I will say that those on the right have been vicious and hit below the belt on an everyday basis, for three fucking years relentless attacks on the left wing bloggers and BK, its the most vicious shit I have ever seen online and while BK is a tough person to defend, HE DID HIS TIME and that is done with, all indications are he is now a law abiding citizen and they hate him so much that they spend ALL THEIR TIME every day, day after day, attacking him writing articles about him etc. They even involved his wife a couple months ago and THAT WAS UGLY, I dont even want to get in to that but it was waaaaaay over the top.

So yea, I sort of wish the guy luck but even if you dont this case is important because it may set some precedents for all of us on the internet so I would pay attention no matter what side you may be on.
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Re: Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby elfismiles » Thu Oct 17, 2013 11:42 am

Thanks for the updates Hunter.

I've been wondering about the level of possible conspiracy amongst the various troll brigades / cyber-stalkers...

SWATting
by elfismiles » 02 Jul 2012 13:41
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=35040

Re: SockPuppet/AstroTurf Alerts
by elfismiles » 03 Jun 2012 16:30
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=31261&p=464659&hilit=seth#p464659

Re: Weinergate
by elfismiles » 22 Jul 2013 19:29
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=32228&p=514801&hilit=troll#p514801
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Re: Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby Hunter » Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:06 pm

Welcome Elf. Everything you listed there is very much a part of this, esp Weinergate, that may be where it started in fact. Looks like you have followed it also and if so then you def know I am not making it up when I say its vicious and ugly and getting worse by the minute.
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Re: Right Wing Internet Bloggers et al Being Sued by BK

Postby elfismiles » Thu Oct 17, 2013 5:29 pm

Hunter » 17 Oct 2013 16:06 wrote:Welcome Elf. Everything you listed there is very much a part of this, esp Weinergate, that may be where it started in fact. Looks like you have followed it also and if so then you def know I am not making it up when I say its vicious and ugly and getting worse by the minute.


I've not actually followed it too closely - I cannot keep up with social media and I've avoided like the plague the comments sections of blogs, social, and msm media sites alike becuz they are just toxic.

But yeah, I've kept an eye out for info on these areas because we've seen it here and it is happening everywhere.
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