BOSTON: Right Wing Rally Organizer Sues Mayor For $100M Over Alleged Comments Linking Him With Nazis

Boston’s NPR affiliate reports:

One of the organizers of a recent and controversial self-described “free speech” rally on Boston Common is suing Mayor Marty Walsh, saying the mayor slandered him by linking its participants with white supremacists and other hate groups.

Brandon Navom [inset], of Lowell, said in the suit filed in Berkshire District Court that he lost his job as a software consultant and was subjected to “all manner of hateful harassment” due to remarks the mayor made. Navom says the remarks mischaracterized the rally and its speakers as supporters of a white nationalist and neo-Nazi agenda, according to a statement released Tuesday by his attorney.

The Aug. 19 rally on Boston Common attracted extensive media coverage. About 50 participants assembled at the Common’s Parkman Grandstand, according to police estimates, while backlash against the event drew approximately 40,000 counter-protesters. The city had also ordered a heavy police presence to monitor demonstrators.

Navom’s suit seeks $50 million in actual damages, $50 million in punitive damages and an apology for “false and defamatory” statements.