A former police officer who defended the Capitol from a pro-Trump mob during the January 6 insurrection has sued a right-wing media outlet and two of its former writers, who accused her of planting pipe bombs outside both the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters.
Blaze Media writers Steve Baker and Joseph Hanneman subjected Shauni Kerkhoof to “a traumatic and humiliating gauntlet” after making the “nonsensical” allegations that resulted in her being fired, harassed, and even investigated by the FBI, according to a defamation lawsuit filed Tuesday in Virginia.
The pair claimed “baselessly” that “forensic gait analysis” that they had had arranged independently from an “anonymous ‘analyst’” determined that Kerkhoff was an “up to 98 percent match” with the bombing suspect, who was captured on surveillance video placing the pipe bombs the night before the riot, the suit claimed.
“They implied Ms. Kerkhoff planted the bombs as a diversion to draw resources away from the Capitol so it would be quickly overwhelmed. To Defendants, it did not matter that the claim was nonsensical. Ms. Kerkhoff did not attack or even neglect the Capitol; she defended it at great personal cost,” the suit stated.
“And it did not matter that they lacked a shred of evidence. They simply made it up.”
The suit further accuses Baker — who was himself charged with crimes stemming from his participation in the riot — and ex-Epoch Times writer Hanneman of failing to follow basic journalism standards in a series of articles they published, which featured the false accusations in an ongoing bid to harm Kerkhoff as revenge for her role in defending the Capitol.
Baker “sought vindication” and Hanneman “sought professional relevance” by perpetuating the false accusations against Kerkhoff, long after it was clear that she could not have planted the bombs — and after the FBI arrested a suspect in the long-running case, the attorneys stated.
In fact, at the time of the insurrection, Kerkhoff was at home taking a video of her greyhound, Bella, which later exonerated her in an investigation by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The actual bombing suspect, 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr., of Woodbridge, Virginia, was arrested in December and charged with transporting explosive materials across state lines and for the attempted destruction of buildings with explosives. Cole allegedly told the FBI that he believed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, which Trump had falsely labeled “stolen” and “rigged” against him, according to people familiar with the case.
Cole has since pleaded not guilty to the charges and used the Blaze’s reporting to boost his defense, despite the outlet retracting its article following his arrest. Nevertheless, the claims and accusations against Kerkhoff had already exploded online.
“Defendants succeeded in their mission to irreparably harm Ms. Kerkhoff,” the lawsuit states, adding that the false allegations had caused her to be placed on administrative leave by the CIA and have her house “ransacked” by FBI agents and bomb sniffer dogs.
Reporters and January 6 obsessives had “descended in droves” on her home, as well as “a top Blaze Media editor [who] even traveled to her house just to ‘observe’ it,” the suit added.
“Commenters on X posted memes accusing Ms. Kerkhoff of planting the pipe bombs, and keyboard warriors threatened Ms. Kerkhoff for her role in supporting the ‘deep state’ —including in posts on her mother’s obituary webpage,” the suit stated. “For two weeks, Ms. Kerkhoff was forced to hide. She kept a loaded gun within arm’s reach, terrified that a conspiracist would break in and harm her.”
The lawsuit added that the accusations by Baker and Hanneman had also destroyed her personal life and reputation, and that she had lost friends because of them.
“She once proudly wore Temple University and Capitol Police t-shirts and hats around her neighborhood, but now she mostly hides those affiliations, rightly afraid that hostile actors who still believe Defendants’ defamatory attacks will recognize and hurt her,” the suit stated. “Ms. Kerkhoff brings this lawsuit to correct the record, hold Defendants accountable, and reclaim her life.”
In addition to Blaze, Baker and Hanneman, Kirkhoff’s lawsuit also names new media firm, Veritas Regnat LLC.
The Independent has contacted Blaze Media for comment on the lawsuit.
Contacts for representatives for Veritas Regnat LLC, Baker and Hanneman were not listed in the lawsuit.
Southern Poverty Law Center indicted for informants as DOJ claims $3 million ‘scheme’
Kash Patel and Todd Blanche lose it with reporters over FBI director allegations
Southern Poverty Law Center indicted on federal fraud charges related to past use of paid informants
What to know about the Southern Poverty Law Center
Democrat borrows Trump’s ‘witch hunt’ refrain to resign from Congress
Mike Johnson unwilling to condemn Cory Mills despite daughters working on the Hill
