The suit seeks damages and lawyers fees from Beck and TheBlaze. Beck sued for Boston bombing claim

A survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing is suing Glenn Beck and his network for defamation for allegedly calling him a suspect in the bombing after he was cleared by authorities.

Saudi Arabian student Abdulrahman Alharbi alleges the conservative radio and TV personality and his network, TheBlaze, falsely identified Alharbi as a participant in the crimes after he was exonerated, according to Boston Magazine.


Alharbi was injured in the bombing and was initially questioned by the FBI, and his apartment was searched, but authorities later said he was only a witness. But Beck didn’t stop, Alharbi’s lawyers write in court filings.

( PHOTOS: Boston Marathon explosions)

“Beck … repeatedly questioned the motives of federal officials in failing to pursue or detain Alharbi an repeatedly and falsely accused Mr. Alharbi of being a criminal who had funded the attacks that took place at the Boston marathon,” his lawyers wrote. “Those statements were made widely and publicly. The statements were false and caused grave injury to the plaintiff.”

The suit seeks damages and lawyers fees from Beck and TheBlaze, alleging “Alharbi’s reputation has been substantially and severely damaged” and he has received accusatory messages due to Beck’s statements.

Police later identified student Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, as suspects in the bombing. Dzhokhar is awaiting trial in the bombings and faces the death penalty. Tamerlan was killed in a police shootout days after the attack.

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On April 22, the Monday after the weekend shootout and arrest of Tsarnaev, Beck used his show to allege that the government was spreading misinformation about the attacks and that Alharbi was still involved.

“The government has not come clean nor has really any of the mainstream media,” Beck said. “The government is out and out lying to you. They are engaging in a disinformation campaign to discredit and destroy.”

He said there were still three suspects in the attack, despite media reports to the contrary.

“While the media continues to look at what the causes were of these two guys, there are, at this hour, three people involved in the bombings in Boston,” Beck said. “The first one was caught on Monday, and we don’t know at this point … how he was involved. But we do know that he was involved. … How many times does lightning has to strike in the first place for this guy to be at the scene of the crime and in the hospital and not involved?”

Beck listed the facts of the case according to his “sources” in law enforcement.

“On Monday, following the bombings, a Saudi national was taken into custody in the hospital, having been injured in the blast,” he said, saying the man’s apartment was searched and he was designated for deportation with the class “212 3B.”

“3B is about as bad as they come,” Beck said. “It means you have demonstrated yourself to be a proven terrorist and engaged in proven terrorist activity.”

The comments came nearly a week after authorities had cleared Alharbi.

Beck and TheBlaze were not immediately available for comment.