JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri attorney general’s office is representing three state senators who have been accused of defamation in federal court, an office spokeswoman said Thursday.
Three members of the Missouri Freedom Caucus — Sens. Denny Hoskins, Rick Brattin and Nick Schroer — were sued last month after they all shared false information online in February that claimed a man detained by police was the shooter at the Kansas City Super Bowl parade and an “illegal” immigrant.
Hoskins and Brattin also shared a post on X claiming the shooter was 44-year-old migrant named Sahil Omar.
But the man pictured in the posts, Denton Loudermill, is actually from Olathe, Kansas, KMBC-TV in Kansas City reported after the posts.
People are also reading…
Loudermill’s attorney told the station that he had been detained for being intoxicated and failing to leave a crime scene. She told the news station he was eventually released without being cited or arrested.
He sued the three lawmakers in federal court in Kansas for defamation, along with U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican.
Like Attorney General Andrew Bailey, all three of the state senators are Republicans.
“Yes,” Madeline Sieren, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said Thursday when asked if the attorney general’s office was representing the three in the defamation lawsuits.
Court records Thursday showed attorney Jeremiah Joseph Morgan Sr. was representing Brattin. Morgan is a deputy attorney general. He was not listed as the attorney for the other two senators.
A motion to dismiss Morgan filed Thursday argues the lawsuit “is barred by absolute legislative immunity.”
Brattin’s post sharing the false information was directed at President Joe Biden and said “CLOSE THE BORDER!”
“State officials asserting their constituents’ views to an executive power is possibly the oldest legislative function in our nation’s history,” Morgan said.
“Plaintiff’s expansion of this Court’s personal jurisdiction, if exercised, would suddenly open up the risk of state officials being dragged into any district court across the country simply because they posted online about an event occurring in their home state,” the motion says.