Vocal 9/11 truther Jesse Ventura is continuing his defamation lawsuit against deceased U.S. sniper Chris Kyle by going after Taya Kyle, the slain soldier’s widow.
“Lawyers for Ventura have asked a federal court to continue his lawsuit against Chris Kyle…by substituting Kyle’s wife, Taya, as the defendant,” the Minnesota Star Tribune reports.
Kyle was killed in February when he shot to death by a former U.S. Marine suffering from PTSD.
Ventura, most famously known for being the guy who dies 45 minutes into “The Predator,” claimed last year that the decorated former SEAL’s book, “American Sniper,” wrongly accused him of starting a California bar fight.
“Although Kyle is deceased, his ‘American Sniper’ book continues to sell and it is soon to be made into a movie,” said Ventura’s motion.
The former wrestler’s lawyer added: Because Kyle’s claims survive his death, “it would be unjust to permit the estate to continue to profit from Kyle’s wrongful conduct and to leave Governor Ventura without redress for ongoing damage to his reputation.”
Ventura’s lawsuit stems from a claim Kyle made while promoting his book.
The former SEAL said Ventura bad-mouthed and degraded the U.S. military in front of a group of SEALs. Kyle’s accusation, if true, is all the more egregious considering the fact that the SEALs had converged on that particular to commemorate the loss of a comrade who died throwing himself on a grenade.
“He was bad-mouthing the war, bad-mouthing (former President) Bush, bad-mouthing America,” Kyle told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly.
“He told us that we were killing innocent people over there, men women children, that we were murders,” Kyle continued, adding that he asked the B list actor to tone down the truther rhetoric just a tad.
“And then he said that we deserved to lose a few guys,” O’Reilly said.
Kyle said he responded by laying out Ventura.
“That happened? You knocked him out?” O’Reilly asked.
“Well, I knocked him down.”
Taya’s attorney on Wednesday responded to the motion, filing an official response and saying that Ventura’s move comes as “a disappointment, but no surprise.”
“Continuing this action will serve no useful purpose,” wrote Kyle’s attorney, “and likely will promote public perception of Jesse Ventura as someone who has little or no regard for the feelings and welfare of surviving family members of deceased war heroes.”
The Star Tribune reports that a hearing is slated for June 17 in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.
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