Parson asks state office not to pay defamation judgments against state senators

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gov. Mike Parson is asking the Missouri Office of Administration not to use state money to pay for any judgments against three state senators accused of defaming a man in the Kansas City Super Bowl parade shooting.

Parson sent the letter Monday to Ken Zellers, Missouri's commissioner of administration. The letter refers to the senators as "elected officials who falsely accused an American citizen of a heinous act and related it to his immigration status."

The three senators are Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville), Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg) and Nick Schroer (R-Defiance). They, along with a congressman from Tennessee, were sued by Denton Loudermill for sharing social media posts falsely claiming Loudermill was an illegal immigrant and a suspect in the shooting.

In reality, police had briefly detained Loudermill during the chaos for being drunk and disorderly.

Parson said May 9 while speaking with reporters that what the senators did was wrong but didn't commit at that time to taking any action. Bailey's office responded by saying the jurisdiction of the lawsuit, filed in federal court, needs to be legally tested.

One person was killed when a shooting broke out at the end of the parade celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl win in February. Social media accounts shared a photo of a detained Loudermill, falsely saying he was a suspect in the shooting.

Parson's letter not only says taxpayers shouldn't foot the bill for the senators, but that the senators themselves voted against expenditures from the State Legal Expense Fund in the past.

"Accordingly, you shall not certify any payments from the LEF in this instance without my approval or a court order," the letter signed by Parson states.