BREAKING: Antifa ‘troll’ lawsuit against Andy Ngo quietly withdrawn
“The dismissed #Antifa lawsuit against me claimed I violated the rights of two Portland women because I had retweeted them,” Ngo said.
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“The dismissed #Antifa lawsuit against me claimed I violated the rights of two Portland women because I had retweeted them,” Ngo said.
A frivolous "Antifa troll" lawsuit filed in federal court against journalist Andy Ngo was quietly withdrawn after "an honest discussion" amongst legal counsel.
In the notice of dismissal pursuant to federal rules of civil procedure dated Dec. 20, plaintiffs Melissa Lewis and Morgan Grace's attorney Larry Zerner wrote that the suit is "dismissed by the Plaintiffs in its entirety, without prejudice."
"A meet and confer that yielded an efficient result!" Liberty Center founder Harmeet K. Dhillon tweeted Thursday of her client Ngo's legal victory.
Kudos to my partner @RonColeman, whose superior intellect, winning knowledge of IP law, and calm, problem-solving manner, capably put the kibosh on this nonsensical lawsuit alleging that two Antifans could make a federal case over a journalists’a proper use of Twitter. ?? pic.twitter.com/RpL0xGUnCm
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban)
"A Christmas miracle!" she added in Thursday's tweet announcing the win. "Ho Ho Ho!" she jested. Dhillon also issued kudos to her partner Ron Coleman "whose superior intellect, winning knowledge of IP law, and calm, problem-solving manner, capably put the kibosh on this nonsensical lawsuit alleging that two Antifans could make a federal case over a journalists'a proper use of Twitter."
Ngo thanked the Liberty Center, Dhillon, and Coleman. "The dismissed #Antifa lawsuit against me claimed I violated the rights of two Portland women because I had retweeted them," Ngo characterized the defeated legal maneuver.
.@MiaCathell investigated the backgrounds of those in the frivolous lawsuit. She found that the two “journalists” had advocated for violent extremism in support of #Antifa. One took up arms & also deleted a post where she admitted to committing a crime. https://t.co/5YXqOXEzK1
— Andy Ngô ???? (@MrAndyNgo)
12 days after Morgan and Lewis took the copyright infringement complaint to US District Court, the bad-faith effort intending to suppress Ngo's reporting failed.
The Post Millennial previously reported on the two Antifa "journalists" who tried to sue Ngo, seeking $300,000 in compensation for damages and injunctive relief, for retweeting riot footage of theirs using Twitter's video-sharing feature.
In the intial Dec. 8 filing, the plaintiffs had claimed that Ngo violated their exclusive copyrights, while also admitting that he "includes a credit" for Morgan and Lewis in both cited instances utilizing Twitter's video-embedding function.
The Post Millennial had investigated Lewis and Morgan's background, finding that they've advocated for far-left violent extremism in support of Antifa.
Lewis, who uses the Internet moniker "Claudio" on social media, describes herself on Twitter as an "antifascist, anarchist" writer and videographer in Portland.
She considers herself "a fighter" who takes active part in the protests-turned-riots, also rallying Antifa comrades on Twitter to take to Portland's riot-torn streets.
In addition to advertising Antifa "direct action" events, Morgan admitted to commiting a crime on Twitter. She has also distrubted riot gear to Antifa's forces and spent Election Day learning how to shoot guns with "Antifa super soldiers."
One of the lawyers who was representing Morgan and Lewis in the lawsuit, self-described "activist" Alan Lloyd Kessler, has spread disinformation about Ngo.
The Antifa-aligned copyright lawyer also called Ngo "a parasite who is living off the hard work of independent journalists" and "able to weaponize the law."
Similar to the Ngo lawsuit, Kessler has waged lawfare against political opponents, including Mayor Ted Wheeler for winning last year's Portland mayoral race against Antifa challenger Sarah Iannarone and Commissioner Dan Ryan for opposing a multi-milion dollar budget cut proposal to the city's police department.
Dhillon noted that she was preemptively blocked by Kessler on Twiter. Addressing the attorney, Dhillon tweeted: "well done sir, no doubt getting paid and avoiding sanctions even though you filed a patently frivolous lawsuit and got PR for it."
And yes there is the lawyer for the Antifa wallahs— one Alan Kessler— who preemptively blocked me on Twitter and who called @MrAndyNgo a “parasite” — well done sir, no doubt getting paid and avoiding sanctions even though you filed a patently frivolous lawsuit and got PR for it.
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban)
The Center for American Liberty had launched a legal defense fundraiser for Ngo, labeling the outlandish lawsuit "Antifa agitprop masquerading as a copyright claim, disconnected from reality both in fact and in law."
Following news of the dismissal, Dhillon lambasted the "Antifa PR squad" that ran hit pieces promoting the defective lawsuit in "a crudely choreographed fashion."
The Daily Beast, , , and were among the media outlets Dhillon slammed. "Some argued with me about copyright law. Others just propagandized," Dhillon declared in the Twitter thread.
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"Hey, @thedailybeast — what happened to that lawsuit dismissed three days ago? Why did the plaintiffs dismiss it? Want to inform your readers?" she fired back.
Hey, @thedailybeast — what happened to that lawsuit dismissed three days ago? Why did the plaintiffs dismiss it? Want to inform your readers? https://t.co/DO4M5JryZ2
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban)
"Hey @dailydot — care you update your readers on how this puff piece you wrote for Antifa, didn't turn out?" Dhillon questioned the digital media company.
Dhillon continued the victory lap. "Oh and this gem from @theintercept — isn't it good journalism to follow up, guys?" she grilled the news organization.
Oh and this gem from @theintercept — isn’t it good journalism to follow up, guys? https://t.co/Gek9xYELej
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban)
Calling out The Oregonian and OregonLive.com, Dhillon asked, "did I miss the follow-up piece about the lawsuit dismissed three days ago? Don't your reporters want the public to know what happened to the 'copyright lawsuit'?"
Yo @Oregonian, @oregonlive — did I miss the follow-up piece about the lawsuit dismissed three days ago? Don’t your reporters want the public to know what happened to the “copyright lawsuit”? https://t.co/v0QQHinV1R
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban)
The left-wing site had smeared Ngo as "a far-right provocateur" while simultaneously providing a sympathetic spotlight for Lewis and Morgan's woes.
Commenting on the negative press, Ngo stated he believes the suit was "motivated in-part by the militants knowing their allies in the press will immediately write smear pieces (fills up Google search results plus Wiki 'citations')."
I believe the withdrawn frivolous #Antifa lawsuit against me was motivated in-part by the militants knowing their allies in the press will immediately write smear pieces (fills up Google search results plus Wiki “citations”). @robertmackey @bobsaietta knew what they were doing. pic.twitter.com/OLsApjaaBb
— Andy Ngô ???? (@MrAndyNgo)
Ngo said the author of the articles, The Intercept's senior writer Robert Mackey and The Daily Beast reporter Robert Silverman, "knew what they were doing."
