A college student finds himself caught up in a false online conspiracy theory involving neo-Nazis, perpetuated by none other than Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Now, he is taking Musk to court, filing a defamation suit against him.
Ben Brody, a college student from the University of California, finds himself in the middle of a false online conspiracy theory. He was wrongly accused of involvement in a scuffle between two neo-Nazi groups in Oregon back in June. Surprisingly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk retweeted this false information multiple times. As Brody expressed his interest in a government career, his alleged attendance at the brawl was used as evidence of a so-called “false flag” event, as reported by the Daily Beast.
Ben Brody, a recent college graduate, is now filing a defamation suit against Elon Musk after Musk seemed to endorse the hoax conspiracy theory that targeted him. Brody’s life was turned upside down when right-wing accounts falsely identified him as a participant in a neo-Nazi brawl in Oregon. Despite being informed that Brody had no involvement with the group, Musk continued to amplify these false allegations on Twitter.
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The Daily Beast reported in June that the brawl was not a “false flag” but a real altercation between two opposing far-right groups.
During an Oregon City Pride event protest, members of the Proud Boys and the Rose City Nationalists, despite their ideological differences, engaged in a physical fight. Proud Boys exposed the faces of two Rose City Nationalists by removing their ski masks, revealing their identities.
Brody is represented by Mark Bankston, the lawyer who successfully fought for a $49 million settlement for Sandy Hook families against Alex Jones and his followers. This settlement later reached $1.5 billion after a second trial in Connecticut. Jones had spent years promoting the false claim that the school shooting was a “false flag” and that the parents were actors and no one died.
Interestingly, during that same period in June, Musk retweeted Zero Hedge, a right-wing conspiracy site that also served as a “source” for Jones’ harmful Sandy Hook theories. It’s not surprising that Brody experienced a similar ordeal following Musk’s repeated references to the conspiracy theory on Twitter, even after being informed that the information was false.
According to the lawsuit, Brody continues to suffer the consequences of Musk’s allegations. He felt that his life was over when Musk publicly endorsed the accusation on June 27th. Brody is concerned that his aspirations for a public-facing government career may be jeopardized due to his connection to this bizarre controversy involving a neo-Nazi group.
It’s always the same excuse when these Nazis show their faces and engage in violence—it’s a “false flag.” Maybe if Musk had taken a moment to think before rushing to defend these right-wing extremists, he would have spared some random kid’s life from being ruined.
This isn’t the first time Elon Musk has faced a lawsuit due to his erratic Twitter usage. In 2019, Musk faced a lawsuit brought against him by a man who helped rescue children from a flooded cave in Thailand. Musk called him a pedophile on Twitter, but was not found liable for damages.
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