Attorneys representing Candace Owens in the federal defamation case filed against her in Tennessee by Brian Harpole, the former head of security for Charlie Kirk, asked U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell for permission to dismiss the lawsuit.
In the submission filed last week, Owens’ attorneys revealed that they will file a 35-page motion containing requests for Campbell to dismiss the lawsuit for a purported failure to state a claim, allegedly running afoul of the Tennessee Public Participation Act (TTPA), and grant a partial motion to strike.
The filing notes that normal court rules limit submissions to 25 pages, but argues their 35-page motion is necessary due to the number of allegations contained in Harpole’s 67-page lawsuit. It also states that Harpole’s lawyers consented to the request before it was filed.
Owens’ filing and forthcoming motion to dismiss the lawsuit come after she indicated that she would use the litigation as an opportunity to obtain never-before-seen footage of Kirk’s assassination. She also said she would use the lawsuit to depose his widow, Erika Kirk.
“What I will say is, how many opportunities are we gonna have? Are we ever going to have another opportunity to force depositions? Are we ever going to have an opportunity to have the power of subpoena?” Owens said in April, “We want to see this footage and subpoena this footage so that we can see what happened on the ground.”
She added, “Is this the only plausible path that we will have before us to get Erika Kirk to sit for deposition, to answer basic questions that we’ve been asking for, actually, a very long time?”
Owens has since retained the attorney Robert A. Peal, from the Nashville firm Sims Funk, who is recognized as a “super attorney” in Tennessee.
Harpole’s legal team includes the Dhillon Law Group, Florida attorney Jacob William Wrath, and two attorneys with the Tennessee-based Swafford Law Firm.
While Owens’ attorneys prepare their motion to dismiss, the current court record suggests that her co-defendant, Mitchell Snow, has not yet been served by the U.S. Marshals Service.
A federal magistrate judge authorized the federal law enforcement agency to serve Snow in May, following a submission by Harpole’s attorneys who claimed Snow had refused to accept service of the lawsuit on multiple occasions. During one attempt to serve him, Snow allegedly created a “hostile environment.”
While claims about defamation continue in Tennessee, a preliminary hearing for the murder trial of Tyler Robinson, who is accused in a Utah court of killing the Turning Point USA founder, is currently scheduled for early July.
– – –
Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Candace Owens” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
