Radio host sues neo-Nazi website for portraying him as mastermind of Manchester bombing

A Muslim-American radio host filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday accusing the publisher of a neo-Nazi website of defamation by falsely labelling him the "mastermind" of the Manchester bombing.

SiriusXM Radio show host Dean Obeidallah said The Daily Stormer embedded fabricated tweets in a June 1 story to make them seem like they had been sent from Obeidallah's Twitter account, tricking readers into believing he took responsibility for the May 22 terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. The death threats came quickly thereafter.

"It was literally jaw-dropping," Obeidallah, a comedian and Daily Beast columnist, told the Associated Press. "The death threats were something I've never seen before in my life."

The suit claims that the article's defamatory statements were intended to incite violence against Obeidallah, citing other alleged examples of Daily Stormer readers who did just that, including Dylann Roof, who read the site before killing black churchgoers in South Carolina.

"Mr. Obeidallah is an ardent believer in and defender of the First Amendment. He recognises the importance of freedom of speech and political discourse, regardless of viewpoint. But the First Amendment does not license defamation," his suit says.

Asked by the AP for comment on the lawsuit, the publisher Andrew Anglin gave a two-word response: "Wew lads," referring to an internet meme expressing sarcastic fake-surprise and dismissiveness.

The Daily Stormer also was sued in April by a Montana woman for orchestrating an anti-Semitic trolling campaign against her family.

Tanya Gersh's suit claims anonymous internet trolls bombarded Gersh's family with hateful and threatening messages after Anglin published their personal information in a post accusing her and other Jewish residents of Whitefish, Montana, of engaging in an "extortion racket" against the mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer.

Gersh is represented by attorneys from the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. In July, the law center's lawyers claimed Anglin was "actively concealing his whereabouts" and hadn't been served with Gersh's suit. They said they looked for him at four addresses in Franklin County, Ohio, where he apparently has connections.

Obeidallah's lawsuit was filed in Columbus, Ohio, since Anglin is an Ohio native who uses a post office box in Worthington, Ohio.

A lawyer for Obeidallah said The Daily Stormer hasn't responded to their request to remove the June 1 article about him. Obeidallah is represented by Muslim Advocates, a national legal and educational organization based in Oakland, California.