Facebook Sued for Empowering 'Right Wing Militias to Inflict Extreme Violence' in Kenosha

The Zuckerberg-fronted Facebook has long been criticized for its role in enabling such groups to recruit and organize online without intervention.

September 23, 2020

Facebook has been sued for, among other things, its role in having "empowered right wing militias to inflict extreme violence."

Four people have sued the Zuckerberg-fronted company in connection with the fatal violence that broke out during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August, namely the actions of the since-charged Kyle Rittenhouse.

A report from Craig Silverman and Ryan Mac for BuzzFeed News details the five-count civil complaint, which also argues that Facebook's aforementioned empowering of right wing militias deprived the plaintiffs, as well as protesters at large, of their rights. Facebook, the plaintiffs state, gave a platform to such groups that enabled them to further their recruitment efforts and make plans for violent actions such as what took place in Kenosha.

The plaintiffs include the partner of someone who is alleged to have been killed by Rittenhouse, identified in the report as Hannah Gittings, as well as longtime Kenosha resident Christopher McNeal. Also included are Nathan Peet, another Kenosha resident who is said to have tried to help one of the people who was allegedly killed by Rittenhouse, as well as Carmen Palmer—named here as a Black woman who traveled to Kenosha with her children and a "church protest group" to join the demonstrations in support of the Black Lives Matter message.

While a lawyer representing Rittenhouse has since referred to the suit as "errant nonsense," attorney Jason Flores-Williams—who filed the suit in question—is quoted in the BuzzFeed report as stating that the violence in Kenosha marked a definitive "failure" by Facebook when it comes to responding appropriately to the oft-warned dangers of right wing militias and similar groups.

Also named in the suit are Rittenhouse, Kenosha Guard "commander" Kevin Mathewson, Ryan Batch, and the so-called "boogaloo boys." For more info, click here.

The Fox News sector of American society, meanwhile, is still trying to paint Rittenhouse as "a little boy" who was simply "trying to protect his community." As you'll recall, it was recently reported that Donald Trump Jr. is also pushing a similarly offensive narrative, bafflingly stating in an Extra TV interview earlier this month that "we all do stupid things at 17."