21 November 2023 , 23:25
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A student claims his life has been ruined after being branded a 'neo Nazi' by Elon Musk.
Ben Brody is so disturbed by the accusations aimed at him that he is now suing the billionaire for more than $1millon in damages. The lawsuit came about after the Tesla founder took to X (formerly Twitter) and told his millions of followers that the 22-year-old, of Jewish faith, was part of an extremist group that caused a brawl during a LGBTQ+ event in Oregon, US on June 24 of this year.
The incident was caught on video and posted on social media. At one point during it one of the member's mask was uncovered, briefly revealing his face. At the time of the event, Ben was around 1,000 miles away in Riverside, California.
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People online believed that Ben was part of a far-right group that brawled at an LGBT+ event (CNN)Then on June 27 , Elon Musk tweeted: "Looks like one is a college student (who wants to join the govt) and another is maybe an Antifa member, but nonetheless a probable false flag situation." His post would have upsetting repercussions for Ben.
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A few factors play a part in what happened next: Ben bearing a vague resemblance to a person allegedly in the group, him being Jewish and the fact that he once said online that he hoped to one day work for the government. These all combined to fuel enough trolls to erroneously decide that Ben was an undercover government agent planted inside the neo-Nazi group to make them look bad.
The tweet posted by Elon Musk that caused Ben all the trouble (CNN)The impact on the student was almost immediate. He told CNN: "I started getting these text messages from my friends. 'You're accused of being a neo-Nazi fed, look at all this stuff that's being said about you.' And I was like, okay, this is just some prank."
A few of Ben's friends desperately tried to defend him and explain that it was just a case of mistaken identity - but it was too late and the awful accusations from strangers kept on coming. Ben went as far as posting an Instagram video explaining that he was well away from the parade at the time of it.
Ben wants more than $1million in damages from the Tesla founder (AFP via Getty Images)Ben even provided CCTV footage of him at a restaurant in California at the exact time the fight happened, but it was no use as the damage had already been done and Elon Musk is accused of helping amplify it. He said: "I knew that this was snowballing, but once Elon Musk commented, I was like boom, that's the final nail in the coffin.
"It massively intensifies it. This guy DM'd me on Instagram, he's like, 'Now even Elon Musk thinks that you're a fed,' and what was really scary too is that these people were threatening to tell my school, and I was scared that I wasn't going to graduate. I was terrified."
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He went on to despair that his life has been "completely ruined" since the tweet. Ben added: "If you just put in my name into the search bar, you know, 'neo-Nazi fed Ben Brody'.'' His plight eventually came to the attention of Mark Bankston, a lawyer who successfully represented Sandy Hook victims' families when they sued conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The lawsuit, filed last month in Travis County, Texas, alleges that Musk’s claims about Brody are part of a “serial pattern of slander” by the billionaire. It argues that he is, “perhaps the most influential of all influencers, and his endorsement of the accusation against Ben galvanized other social media influencers and users to continue their attacks and harassment, as well as post accusations against Ben that will remain online forever.”
The suit alleges Musk refused to delete his tweets in August after he was made aware through his lawyers about Brody’s case for defamation. While an attorney for Musk said: "We expect this case to be dismissed."
But Ben said the suit is more than just the money and wants to protect others in the future. He added: "I just want to make things right. It’s not about vengeance. I’m not angry. It’s not resentment. I just want to make things right, to get an apology, so that this doesn’t happen again to anyone else.”
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