Lawsuit on ABC News report with brief video of a Boones Mill home heard in federal court
A screen capture from the Jan. 3, 2022, ABC News report about the aftermath of two former town police officers charged and later convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. A family claims they were defamed when broadcast shows their home in the moments when the news report links the residence to the Jan. 6 attacks as well as to racism in the county.
A lawsuit claiming ABC News defamed owners of a Boones Mill home in a news report that briefly featured video of the residence defies common sense, an attorney argued Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke.
The nearly $70 million lawsuit was transferred from state to federal court last month by the co-owners of the home, Crystal Minnix and Eugene Muse Jr., along with residents Carlton Minnix Jr., Linda Muse, Zachary Muse and seven minors.
The filing claims defamation, assault and endangerment as well as negligence over a news story that aired in January 2022.
The 7 minute, 30-second news report, titled “Cops’ role in Jan. 6 attack divides Virginia town with ties to Confederacy,” includes discussions from several Rocky Mount residents on their perceptions of racism in the town as well as two former town police officers’ involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Boones Mill home can be seen for approximately 5 seconds in the video, along with a child barely visible in the distance.
The lawsuit claims statements made by ABC News reporter Devin Dwyer and Black Lives Matter Franklin County founder Bridgette Craighead in the moments just before and during the time the home can be seen on the video linked the residence to the Jan. 6 attacks as well as to racism in the county.
Dwyer, Craighead, Black Lives Matter Franklin County as well as ABC News producers Elizabeth Thomas and Jacqueline Yoo were named as defendants.
Craighead, a Black businesswoman who ran for political office in 2021, makes the statement “This is their land. This is their county and we are just living in it,” in the video just before the Boones Mill home is shown. Then there is a voiceover by Dwyer with the statement “Rocky Mount is predominately white and politically conservative,” while the home is shown in the video.
On Wednesday, Judge Michael Urbanski considered a recent motion by defendants to dismiss the case as well as a motion by the plaintiffs to return the case to Franklin County Circuit Court, where it was originally filed.
Nathan Siegel, representing ABC News, said the video makes no reference to the plaintiffs. He questioned how someone would think the residents of the home were who they were discussing in the video.
“With respect, it doesn’t pass the basic common sense test,” Siegel said.
The First Amendment protects what Siegel called “loose, figurative, or hyperbolic language” that cannot reasonably be interpreted as stating actual fact. He was referring to Craighead’s statements in the video.
King Tower, representing Craighead and Black Lives Matter Franklin County, agreed with Siegel’s argument that what was said by Craighead was a figurative statement. He also questioned how she could be held responsible for the home being shown on the video after her statement is made.
“Clearly, as Mr. Siegel pointed out, there can be no basis for having Ms. Craighead take responsibility for the entire new story from ABC,” Tower said.
Roanoke attorney Lance Hale, representing the Boones Mill family, said Craighead had control over her speech in the video and could have reserved the right to review the news report before it was shown. She failed to exercise that right, he said.
Hale also questioned how the news report transitioned to Jan. 6 violence after showing the Boones Mill home. He said having violence be shown immediately after the home attributes that the home’s occupants are involved in Jan. 6.
“That is not true,” Hale said. “That is a false statement and it directly affects them.”
As for the family, Hale said they had no interest in being a part of the news report and did not seek any limelight. No one from ABC News asked if the home could be included.
Urbanski asked Hale how Craighead should be held accountable for the things that were said in the video. He also said that Craighead seemed to be interviewed in an entirely different part of the county and was not near the home in question when she made the statement “This is their land. This is their county and we are just living in it,” in the video.
“You can see in the video that the background during her interview is not the Minnix household,” Urbanski said.
Urbanski later asked Siegel about the transition in the video from the home to scenes of Jan. 6. He questioned how the two could be seen as connected.
“There is just no reasonable implication that the members of that home had anything to do with Jan. 6,” Siegel said.
While asking several questions, Urbanski gave no ruling on Wednesday. He said he would issue a written memorandum opinion on the motion to dismiss as well as the motion to return the case to Franklin County Circuit Court.
Urbanski gave no date for when the opinion would be available other than stating he would provide it as soon as he could.
