A federal judge on Monday dismissed defamation lawsuits against three Missouri state senators who made social media posts incorrectly identifying a Kansas man as an undocumented immigrant and the shooter at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory celebration.
Denton Loudermill, the plaintiff in the case, had not shown that the Kansas federal court where he filed the lawsuit is the right one, U.S. District Judge John Broomes ruled. In the eight-page decision, almost identical for each case except for changing names, Broomes ruled that Republican state Sens. Rick Brattin of Harrisonville, Denny Hoskins, of Warrensburg, and Nick Schroer, of Defiance, had shown they had not intended to target Kansas with their posts and therefore should not be sued in a Kansas court.
The decision came just about a month after Broomes dismissed Loudermill’s lawsuit against U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee for defamatory social media posts. Broomes gave the same reasons for dismissing the case against the three senators that he did in dismissing the lawsuit against Burchett.
The shooting at the end of the victory celebration left one person dead and at least 24 people injured.
Just because a post on the internet can be read in a particular location does not mean that location can claim jurisdiction over the person who made the post, Broomes wrote, quoting appeals court precedent.
“Plaintiff has failed to put forth any evidence from which this court could find that defendant ‘purposefully directed [its] activities at residents of the forum, and the litigation results from alleged injuries that arise out of or relate to those activities,’” Broomes wrote, again quoting another case.
Broomes declined to transfer the case to the Western District of Missouri, which includes the location of the victory celebration and the Missouri Capitol Building in Jefferson City.
The cases are not dead, Arthur Benson, attorney for Loudermill, said in an email to The Independent.
“They will be re-filed soon in Missouri,” he said, declining to give any more information.
In the defense provided to the three senators by Attorney General Andrew Bailey, they claimed they wrote the social media posts “while … engaged in … regular duties as a Missouri State Senator in Cole County, Missouri,” Broomes noted.
Broomes did not rule on the claims Brattin, Hoskins and Schroer made that they were immune from being sued for their statements because of their official positions.
Bailey’s office, in a statement, called the decision a victory for the state maintaining jurisdiction over cases involving Missourians.
“Questions of Missouri law belong in Missouri courts, not in remote courts in other states,” spokeswoman Madeline Sieren wrote in an email. “We have said that from Day One. Missourians should rest assured that Attorney General Bailey will always follow the law, even when it’s not easy.”
Bailey’s participation in the case generated its own dispute. In a May letter to the commissioner of the Office of Administration, the state agency that certifies payments from Missouri’s legal expense fund, Gov. Mike Parson wrote that no payments related to the lawsuits should be certified “without my approval or a court order.”
“I cannot justify money spent in this way,” Parson wrote.
Bailey was protecting a legitimate state interest, Sieren said Monday.
“The state has an interest in ensuring remote courts in other states cannot answer questions of Missouri law,” she said.
The lawsuits grew out of social media posts made soon after shooting erupted after the Feb. 14 Super Bowl victory parade and rally at Union Station in Kansas City. Loudermill, who was born in Kansas and lives there now, was detained briefly because he was too slow to leave the area of the shooting, he told The Independent earlier this year.
A photo of him, seated, with his hands restrained behind his back, was posted on X, formally known as Twitter, by an account with the name Deep Truth Intel. That post incorrectly identified him with a name associated with misinformation posted after other shootings and said he was an undocumented immigrant.
Soon after that initial social media post, the Missouri Freedom Caucus, Hoskins, Brattin, Schroer and Burchett posted their own versions, some with the photo, some without.
“These are 3 people arrested at the parade…at least one of those arrested is an illegal immigrant. CLOSE OUR BORDERS!” the Missouri Freedom Caucus posted.
The post was deleted and the Missouri Freedom Caucus also sought to retract its mistake, linking to a KMBC post about Loudermill’s effort to clear his name.
“Denton is an Olathe native, a father of three & a proud @Chiefs fan,” the post states. “He’s not a mass shooter. Images of him being detained for being intoxicated & not moving away from the crime scene at the Chiefs rally have spread online. He just wants to clear his name.”
Hoskins’ version shared a screenshot of the initial anonymous post and blamed President Joe Biden and political leaders of Kansas City for making the shooting possible.
Brattin’s first post linking Loudermill to the shooting, since deleted, demanded “#POTUS CLOSE THE BORDER” and incorporated the deleted anonymous post that kicked everything off.
Schroer was the least certain post about the immigration and arrest status of Loudermill among the three.
Schroer’s post included a link to one from Burchett stating, over Loudermill’s photo, that “One of the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade shooters has been identified as an illegal Alien.”
“Can we get any confirmation or denial of this from local officials or law enforcement?” Schroer wrote. “I’ve been sent videos or stills showing at least 6 different people arrested from yesterday but officially told only 3 still in custody. The people deserve answers.”
Brattin did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the decision.
Hoskins, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, said he was pleased by the decision and now wants to see the people charged with the shootings brought to trial.
“I will continue to pray for the innocent victims of the Kansas City parade shooting,” Hoskins said.
Schroer said he sees the decision as vindication and that he is considering legal action for defamation against media outlets.
“I am glad that the rule of law has been maintained and these frivolous lawsuits targeting conservative Senators were dismissed,” Schroer said. “Lawmakers absolutely should have the ability to question the validity of claims regarding whether or not criminals murdering our constituents are legal citizens.”
This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent, part of the States Newsroom.
