US conservative pundit Glenn Beck gestures as he speaks to Israeli members of parliament on July 11, 2011 at the Knesset in Jerusalem.
Credit: GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images
A 20-year-old student who was injured during the blasts at the Boston Marathon last year has filed a lawsuit against conservative commentator Glenn Beck alleging defamation and slander.
Lawyers for Abdulrahman Alharbi filed the lawsuit in federal court in Boston on Friday. It seeks unspecified damages for the allegations of defamation and defamation with malice, but does state that the amount involved would exceed $75,000.
Alhrabi argues in the lawsuit that he “like many others,” was questioned by federal authorities investigating the April 15 bombings. They also, with his permission, searched his apartment.
“The responsible officials quickly concluded that Mr. Alharbi, other than being injured in the attacks, had no involvement in the attacks,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit goes on to say that many media outlets reported the questioning of a man of Middle Eastern descent, but those reports stopped when the man was cleared. But Beck, the lawsuit argues, “repeatedly and falsely identified Mr. Alharbi as an active participant in the crimes that were committed on April 15, 2013, repeatedly questioned the motives of federal officials in failing to pursue or detain Mr. Alharbi and repeatedly and falsely accused Mr. Alharbi of being a criminal who had funded the attacks that took place at the Boston Marathon.”
Specifically, the lawsuit said that Beck, a former Fox News host and current radio host, repeated the claims weeks after the attacks and stated that Alharbi was the “money man” behind the bombings.
Soon after, the lawsuit states, Alharbi was the subject of numerous messages, Internet postings and other communications that accused him of being a murderer, child killer and terrorist.
“The statements were false and did grave injury to [Alharbi],” the lawsuit said.
An e-mail message sent to Beck was not returned.
Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.
