Pro Bono Team Assists with Web Analytics in Defamation Suit Related to Filming of Fatality During Charlottesville Political Rally

June 28, 2022

An Analysis Group team provided pro bono analyses in Brennan Gilmore’s defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants, including Alex Jones and his Infowars website. While attending a protest against the 2017 “Unite the Right” political rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Mr. Gilmore captured cellphone footage of the car attack that killed another counter-protester. Mr. Gilmore, who is a US Foreign Service officer, filed a civil suit in Virginia federal court alleging that the defendants had spread conspiracy theories about him in relation to the footage, which led to death threats against him and his family.

The Analysis Group team was engaged by the plaintiff’s counsel to provide analysis of the damage to Mr. Gilmore’s reputation and State Department career, as well as of the defendants’ unjust enrichment. Throughout a lengthy discovery dispute, the team assisted Mr. Gilmore’s counsel in crafting questions and production requests related to potential analyses of the defendants’ web traffic and monetization strategies. Following counsel’s delivery of production requests, three of the defendants, including Mr. Jones, settled before trial, admitting liability and paying $50,000 each in damages.

The Analysis Group team led by Vice President Peter Rybolt included Vice President Michael Schreck; Associates Shannon Ward, Tim Spittle, and Marimer Guevara; Analyst Lien Dao; and Head of Digital Marketing Kevin Scarborough.