Troy Smocks, who was sentenced to 14 months in prison after making threats on Parler, has filed a lawsuit against the social media platform for $370 million(opens in a new tab).
Smocks was banned from Parler in January 2021 for advocating violence after the Capitol riots. He posted a message on January 7th, stating “Over the next 24 hours, I would say lets [sic] get our personal affairs in order. Prepare our weapons, and then go get’em,” followed by, “Lets hunt these cowards down like the Traitors that each of them are. This includes RINOS, Dems, and Tech Execs. We now have the green light.”
A lawyer used ChatGPT for legal filing. The chatbot cited nonexistent cases it just made up
Smocks pleaded guilty to making interstate threats in October 2021, and was subsequently convicted. In a recent report by Gizmodo, it was revealed that Smocks is now suing Parler(opens in a new tab) for banning him due to his comments. The lawsuit alleges that Parler’s decision to ban him was based on his political views and his support for former President Donald Trump. According to Smocks, this is a violation of a Texas law(opens in a new tab) that prohibits platforms from banning users based on their political beliefs. Smocks is suing Parler, former CEO John Matze, and co-founder Rebekah Mercer, who is a right-wing billionaire, in the lawsuit.
Interestingly, the lawsuit doesn’t mention the threatening comments that led to Smocks’ ban from Parler. Gizmodo notes that the Texas law cited by Smocks in his lawsuit does not protect speech that “directly incites criminal activity or consists of specific threats of violence.”
John Matze claims that he is not aware of Smocks, and he has not yet been officially served with the lawsuit. He believes that Smocks is blaming others for his troubles and is struggling to accept responsibility for his actions.
