Kyle Clark and 9News agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit filed against them by a Littleton businessman who attended the Jan. 6 rally at the U.S. Capitol.
Chad Burmeister’s social media posts from outside the Capitol were used by the news station in a report of the day’s events.
The media at large has described those events as a day that will live in infamy, as an insurrection, downfall of democracy, Apocalypse Now and fall of civilization.
Burmeister was not arrested or charged with any crimes, nor did he enter the building. His lawsuit claimed he and his business were defamed because of Clark’s reporting.
Burmeister’s case was on appeal and arguments were set for this week, but a spokesman for the Colorado Court of Appeals told the Denver Post a settlement was reached on April 13.
The settlement terms and amounts were unclear.
Steve Zansberg represented Clark and 9News’ parent company, Tegna.
The Denver Post reports:
Zansberg declined to discuss the settlement amount but said in a statement that he was pleased to see the case dropped.
And:
Burmeister’s attorney, Dan Ernst, said his client offered to settle “because he felt that to a large extent we have corrected the false and defamatory record created by Kyle Clark, Tenga Inc. and 9News.”
“It is now clear that Mr. Burmeister marched to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and did not participate in any violence and or vandalism and was not in the Capitol building that day,” Ernst said in an email.
9News announced the settlement with just a hint of bitterness.
