A federal judge in Kansas City, Kansas, dismissed a lawsuit against a Tennessee congressman accusing him of falsely implicating a Kansas man in a shooting at a celebration for the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win earlier this year. U.S. District Judge John Broomes decided the case did not have sufficient ties to Kansas, as the plaintiff Denton Loudermill Jr. resides there while Rep. Tim Burchett, a Republican, is not closely linked to the state. As a result, the lawsuit is likely to be refiled in Washington, D.C., where Burchett was situated when he made the social media posts about Loudermill.
The lawsuit claimed that Loudermill, who found himself in the midst of the chaos following the February 14 shooting at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, was wrongfully handcuffed by police. Despite not being detained, cited, or arrested in connection to the incident, a photo of Loudermill was shared on Burchett’s social media account with misleading captions suggesting he was involved in the shooting as an “illegal alien,” despite Loudermill being a U.S. citizen.
Following the shooting, Loudermill reportedly experienced distress and received death threats due to the false accusations made against him by Burchett on social media platforms. The lawsuit emphasized that Loudermill was not engaged in any criminal behavior at the time of the incident and was merely a bystander caught up in the aftermath of the tragic event.
The legal action underscored that Loudermill, described as a car wash employee and a valued member of his African-American family with deep roots in the Kansas community, faced unwarranted public scrutiny and emotional distress as a result of being wrongfully associated with the shooting. Despite Burchett’s subsequent clarification about the incorrect identification, the initial posts made online continued to impact Loudermill’s life, causing him anxiety, agitation, and disruptions in his daily routines.
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