IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Boston Marathon Bombing Victim Sues Glenn Beck for Defamation

A Saudi Arabian man who was injured in the bombings has filed a defamation lawsuit against Glenn Beck for publicly tying him to the attacks.
Image: Commentator Glenn Beck arrives at the 45th Country Music Association Awards in Nashville in this file photo
Commentator Glenn Beck arrives at the 45th Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, Tennessee in this file photo from November 9, 2011.HARRISON MCCLARY / Reuters

A Saudi Arabian national who was injured in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings has filed a defamation and slander lawsuit against firebrand conservative commentator Glenn Beck for publicly accusing him of being the "money man" who funded the horrific attacks.

Abdulrahman Alharbi, a 20-year-old exchange student who lives in Revere, Mass., said in a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Boston that his reputation was "substantially and severely damaged" after Beck made on-air comments tying him to the twin explosions that killed three people and injured more than 260.

The lawsuit also names as defendants the broadcast companies linked to Beck's show: The Blaze, Inc., Mercury Radio Arts, Inc., and Premiere Radio Networks, Inc. It seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages.

Alharbi said in the court filing obtained by NBC News that Beck "repeatedly and falsely identified" him as an "active participant" in the April 15, 2013, attack, "repeatedly questioned the motives of federal officials in failing to pursue or detain" him and "repeatedly and falsely accused" of him of being a "criminal who had funded the attacks."

In the lawsuit, Alharbi said he has been called a "murderer, child killer and terrorist" in the wake of Beck's statements.

A spokesman for Beck declined to comment.

Alharbi was a spectator near the marathon finish line at the time of the explosions and was injured. Federal authorities investigating the attack questioned him and searched his apartment before concluding he was not involved in the attack, the lawsuit said.

Authorities blame the bombing on two brothers: Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who died in a shootout with police four days after the bombings, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, who was captured and is being held pending trial in November. He has pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges, including using a weapon of mass destruction.

— Daniel Arkin, with The Associated Press
Image: Commentator Glenn Beck arrives at the 45th Country Music Association Awards in Nashville in this file photo
Commentator Glenn Beck arrives at the 45th Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, Tennessee in this file photo from November 9, 2011.HARRISON MCCLARY / Reuters