A Saudi student who was injured in the Boston bombings last year has filed a lawsuit against Glenn Beck for defamation after the conservative political commentator labeled the man a suspect and accused the U.S. government of orchestrating a cover-up.
Beck spoke out on his television program a week after the April 2013 bombings and presented his case that the attacks were the work of 20-year-old Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, a Saudi studying in the U.S. on a student visa, whom Beck says recruited the Tsarnaev brothers. He claims the plot was then covered up by the U.S. government to preserve its relationship with the Saudis.
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"There is a relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia the American public doesn't know about," Beck said at the time. "The case of Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi is only the latest example."
Beck pointed out that after the bombings, Alharbi was quickly scheduled for deportation and tagged as a terrorist (labeled by the National Counterterrorism Center under section 212, 3B, which indicates proven terrorist activity), a designation that was mysteriously dropped after Secretary of State John Kerry met with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal. A day later, President Barack Obama also met with Al-Faisal. After that, Beck says, the FBI backtracked on Alharbi from suspect, to person of interest, to witness, to victim, to nobody.
Alharbi is now suing Beck and his network, The Blaze, for defamation and slander, saying that the media personality continued to spread lies about him even after authorities exonerated him. He's asking for
damages and lawyer fees, according to Politico.
"Beck . . . repeatedly questioned the motives of federal officials in failing to pursue or detain Alharbi an repeatedly and falsely accused Mr. Alharbi of being a criminal who had funded the attacks that took place at the Boston marathon," the plaintiff's lawyers wrote in court documents. "Those statements were made widely and publicly. The statements were false and caused grave injury to the plaintiff . . . [He] received numerous messages . . . based on Beck's statements accusing him of being a murderer, child killer, and terrorist."
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