East Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett is hitting back in a legal scuffle over a post that's landed him in hot water. The Republican representative has moved to dismiss a defamation lawsuit a Kansas man brought against him, stemming from a social media post connected to a Kansas City Chiefs fan allegedly wrongfully tied to a shooting incident.
Lawyers for Burchett filed a motion this week in a Kansas federal court, arguing their case that a supposed lack of jurisdiction should invalidate the claim. According to WBIR, Burchett's defense alleges that what he did—or didn't do—bears no connection to the state of Kansas, rendering the court there powerless to preside over the case.
The controversy circles back to a tweet from Burchett that has since stirred significant distress for Kansan and avid Chiefs fan Denton Loudermill. Loudermill's lawsuit claims a false tweet cast him in a damaging light, a dispute Knox News notes. The lawsuit suggests Burchett's post contributed to the viral spread of a photo that wrongfully associated Loudermill with the shooting, a claim the congressman's attorney summarily contests.
"Unfortunately for plaintiff, onlookers and media outlets began taking pictures and video recordings of plaintiff, which images immediately went viral showing up on social media platforms," the congressman's filed defense states, as documented by Knox News. It curiously continues to assert, despite its refutation of responsibility, that "major news outlets linked the man in the photo to the shooting."
Details of the legal filing and Burchett's quest to have the case thrown out were also briefly spotlighted on X by a user with the handle @jnbeatlefan. However, the microblogging platform's post merely summarizes the broader legal entanglement, highlighting the geographical strand of the argument—that Burchett's actions are beyond the reach of Kansas justice.
East TN Congressman Tim Burchett is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a Chiefs fan against him in Kansas federal court.https://t.co/vYc1oIVgkO
— jnbeatlefan (@jnbeatlefan) May 3, 2024
