The Kansas man who was falsely considered an “illegal alien” and one of the gunmen at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl rally is suing a Tennessee state representative for defaming him.
Denton Loudermill is seeking more than $75,000 in damages for a “false representation” of him that appeared on Rep. Tim Burchett’s (R-TN) social media account.
The Olathe man was arrested at the parade and photos of him were spread on X, formerly Twitter, accompanied by the false claim that he was an undocumented immigrant and one of the suspects in the shooting that claimed the life of radio host Lisa López. Galvan.
Burchett amplified these claims with a February 15 post on his personal X account, captioning the image: “One of the shooters at the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade has been identified as an illegal alien.”
According to court documents reviewed by DailyMail.com, the Republican lawmaker’s post accumulated 21,000 retweets and more than 7.2 million views on the morning of February 18.
Denton Loudermill was detained during the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory parade on February 14 and later released.
Photos of him spread on X, formerly Twitter, along with the false claim that he was an undocumented immigrant and one of the shooters.
Loudermill is suing Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) for making ‘defamatory representations’ of him, in a post that racked up more than a million views.
“Burchett then deleted the post, stating in a new one that he had misidentified Loudermill as an undocumented immigrant, while continuing to suggest that Loudermill was “one of the shooters,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit claims that the false characterization caused Loudermill to “receive death threats and suffer mental anguish,” adding that he is expected to continue to experience “periods of anxiety, agitation, and sleep disturbances.”
The lawsuit also details the circumstances surrounding Loudermill’s arrest.
‘As the complainant began to walk away from the area, police began to cordon off the area. When the plaintiff attempted to go under the tape to leave the area, officers stopped him and told him he was moving “too slow,” he says.
They handcuffed him and sat him on a sidewalk, at which point “people started taking pictures of him.” After about 10 minutes, they walked him a few blocks, took off his handcuffs, and told him he was free to leave.
Loudermill was not charged or cited with any crime or misdemeanor, the lawsuit states.
He notes that Burchett was not among the 500,000 people who attended the February 14 parade.
The lawsuit claims the false characterization caused Loudermill to “receive death threats and suffer mental anguish.” He adds that he was handcuffed after police told him he was moving “too slowly” when leaving the scene, but was later released.
The lawsuit notes that Burchett was not present the day of the parade shooting.
The Olathe man was released from custody and was not charged or cited with any crime or misdemeanor, the lawsuit states.
He mentions that Burchett made the offensive posts on his personal account X.
“Plaintiff is not and has never been an illegal alien, as he was born and raised in the United States of America,” the lawsuit reads.
‘On February 14, 2024, plaintiff was not the “shooter” and was not involved in the shooting in any way.
‘At no time did authorities detain, summons or arrest plaintiff for any involvement in the Super Bowl shooting. At no time did the plaintiff participate in armed violence during the Super Bowl celebration.
He notes that Burchett was not among the 500,000 people who attended that day.
The lawsuit further claims that the congressman “knew or should have known that his incendiary social media post would be seen and read across the country,” including in Kansas, where Loudermill lived.
He considers the politician’s actions “deliberate, wanton, reckless and malicious”, showing “complete and deliberate indifference and conscious disregard for the rights of the plaintiff.”
The Olathe man is seeking a jury trial and at least $75,000 in damages for “false light invasion of privacy.”
Under Kansas state law, this is considered one of four types of invasion of privacy and occurs when a highly offensive false post is made to a third party.
Loudermill said he simply wanted Burchett to “apologize and get the word out that I’m not the guy he says I am.”
He told the media that his children had become the target of questions. “I just don’t want this to get out that much,” she said.
Speaking to members of the media outside the Olathe Public Library on Wednesday, Loudermill expressed that he simply wanted Burchett to “apologize and get the word out that I’m not the guy he says I am.”
“I just want him to be held accountable for what he did and what he said to me,” Loudermill said.
He explained that his children had become the target of questions and such. I just don’t want this to be known so much.’
Loudermill was accompanied by his attorney, LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, who said it was “time to act.”
“If the congressman and others had owned the misinformation, it wouldn’t have felt so intentional or like a disregard for the harm that was done to Mr. Loudermill,” he said.
‘At this point, I think we’ve talked enough and it’s time to act. “We’re going to let the legal process work.”