Protesters gather in the “free speech zone” near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing and detention center, October 31, 2025, in Broadview, Illinois.
Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images
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Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images
Pro-Trump media figure Benny Johnson is being sued for defamation by protesters who say he falsely portrayed them as “left-wing terrorists” who attacked federal agents.
One of the plaintiffs, Kyle Frankovich, had never heard of Johnson before the podcaster and online influencer posted video of Frankovich and a row of other protesters being detained outside the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, last October. “These individuals assaulted ICE agents as they attempted to clear the area behind us here,” Johnson said in a video.
Johnson knew that wasn’t true, according to a complaint filed Friday by Frankovich and another protester. Frankovich was observing and recording video of ICE agents from a designated “free speech” area when he was knocked to the ground and arrested. He and his co-plaintiff, Maureen Foody, were released without charges.
Images of Frankovich with his hands tied behind him, with his distinctive tattoos visible, were later used in recruiting materials by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Frankovich is a data scientist who works at Harvard University and Foody is a court reporter. In their complaint, both say they have lived with fear of violent attacks and professional consequences since being labeled terrorists in Johnson’s videos.
“(Frankovich) and his partner no longer wander around alone. He has made his social media private and uses a Google service to report whenever his address is available online,” the lawsuit states.
Johnson has millions of followers on social media and his images have been broadcast on Fox News. He did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Johnson made the videos alongside then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and then-Border Patrol Commanding General Gregory Bovino.
“It’s clear that the administration’s goal is to delegitimize all political opposition, and in particular to delegitimize the really massive movement of the general public that disapproves of the administration’s actions and has demonstrated that in a variety of ways,” said Rachel Goodman, special counsel at Protect Democracy, a nonprofit legal organization that has worked on similar defamation cases and is not involved in the lawsuit.
While federal government officials are generally shielded from defamation suits, the complaints against Johnson highlight a pattern the Trump administration has used to control the information environment, Goodman said. In addition to undermining journalism and nonpartisan media, Goodman said that “the other part of this strategy is his propaganda strategy…working very closely with politically aligned influencers and sort of allies of the administration to get them to create content.”
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