Elon Musk is being sued after falsely linking man to neo-Nazi group

Elon Musk is being sued after wrongly linking a man to a neo-Nazi group and a government agency.

On Monday 2 October, the X/Twitter CEO was sued by a 22-year-old man after Musk boosted posts which suggested the man was a government agent who was posing as a neo-Nazi.

According to Forbes, the lawsuit explained that conspiracy theorists online believed the plaintiff, Ben Brody, looked similar to a neo-Nazi from the far-right group the Rose City Nationalists whose face was accidentally shown when his mask was pulled down during a fight in Oregon.

It is also claimed that conspiracists discovered Brody was part of a Jewish fraternity, in which a blurb had been posted on Instagram about him, explaining his aspirations to work for the government in the future.

Based on this information, conspiracy theorists believed Brody was actually the person in the Orgeon fight video, and that he was a government plant sent to make conservatives look bad.

In June 2023, Musk got involved in the conspiracy, replying to an article containing Brody’s name and image, writing: “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.”

Brody is being represented by Mark Bankston – the same attorney who represented families of Sandy Hook victims in a lawsuit filed against right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Brody’s lawsuit, filed in Texas state court, described Musk’s actions as “astonishingly reckless conduct” and accused the billionaire of libel. They are seeking $1 million in damages and have requested a jury trial.

It also claims the 22-year-old suffered emotional distress and that Musk’s actions led to his family and himself being doxxed and harassed.

indy100 has reached out to Musk's representatives for comment.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.