(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Virginia Beach man Jacob Hiles participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest, and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building in September 2021.
But according to CNN, Hiles is no simple protestor who trespassed on Capitol Hill. Instead, CNN paints Hiles as a terrorist who tried to overthrow the government.
Accordingly, Hiles has sued CNN over its allegedly defamatory reporting that he tried inciting a “revolution” on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The statements accuse and impute to Plaintiff the intention to overthrow a sitting government which is one of the gravest felonies in the United States of America, even though at the time of publication he had been charged with four Class B Misdemeanors and entered a guilty plea to only one nonviolent misdemeanor and resulting in the three other charges being dismissed,” Hines said of the October 2021 CNN article, which referred to him as a “man [who] wanted to start ‘a revolution’ on January 6.”
Hines said the CNN article, which is still online and uncorrected, has resulted in death threats against him and his family. He also said his charter boat business has greatly suffered as a result of the article.
Hines seeks $37 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages.
However, observers have noted that Hines might have a weak case against CNN.
For instance, the J6er did post a selfie to Facebook the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, with the caption “Feelin’ cute…might start a revolution later, IDK – in Capitol Hill.” Even though this post is arguably a joke, CNN did accurately quote his “start a revolution” comment.
A Twitter user also noted that Hines’s attorney in the defamation lawsuit, Alexander Bell, took some eight months to serve CNN after initially filing the lawsuit in Virginia Beach circuit court last October. Bell was also allegedly disciplined in August 2021 for failing to make timely filings in court.
Friends! We've got a new defamation suit against CNN by a January 6th defendant, Jacob Hiles, and it's absolutely the quality you would expect it to be. A thread. https://t.co/QPPoj53JVP
— Denys Beecher (@BeecherDenys) July 20, 2023
“Sloppiness like this perhaps helps explain an 8 month delay in actually serving CNN?” the Twitter user asked.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
