Sharpton versus Limbaugh: Lawsuit may be coming

By Herb Boyd
Special to the NNPA
from the Amsterdam News

NEW YORK (NNPA)—If controversial talk show host Rush Limbaugh doesn’t apologize for his comments published in an op-ed column in the Wall Street Journal, he could face a defamation lawsuit from the Rev. Al Sharpton.

In his column, Limbaugh, who has been in the news lately after being asked to invest in the purchase of the winless St. Louis Rams football team, charged that Sharpton played “a leading role in the 1991 Crown Heights riot (he called neighborhood Jews ‘diamond merchants’) and 1995 Freddie’s Fashion Mart riot.”

A sharply worded statement from the Sharpton camp contests, “Mr. Limbaugh’s blatant and defamatory statements regarding the Crown Heights riots falsely give the impression that Rev. Sharpton was present during the violence that occurred when in reality, he had been called in by the family after the violence… In fact, a study was commissioned by Governor Mario Cuomo that stated unequivocally that activists, including Rev. Al Sharpton, didn’t get to Crown Heights until after the riot,” the statement continued.

“Ironically, in 1991, not only did Rev. Sharpton not participate in the Crown Heights violence, this was the same year he was stabbed in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and he later went to court to plead for leniency for his stabber and forgave him,” the release stated. “In terms of Freddie’s Fashion Mart, Rev. Al Sharpton, along with local elected officials supported the protests. However, a lone gunman who disagreed with the nonviolent nature of the protests entered the store and killed seven people and himself. He was a known critic of Rev. Sharpton’s use of non-violent techniques. For Mr. Limbaugh to imply that Rev. Sharpton has anything to do with someone that killed people ... is blatantly wrong.”

Crtics say Limbaugh was incensed when his bid to buy the Rams, along with Dave Checketts, was rejected and he blamed “race hustlers,” including the Rev. Jesse Jackson in his allegations against Sharpton.

Sharpton and Jackson, Limbaugh asserted, were in cahoots with the NFL Players Association in blocking his bid.

“He’s delusional,” Sharpton said of Limbaugh and his charges. “He’s trying to inflate himself—that he’s so important that the whole world has to be against him. He ought to ask his partners why they threw him under the bus.”

Meanwhile, Sharpton’s lawyers are preparing a lawsuit if Limbaugh refuses to apologize or to clarify his statements.

“He has the right to criticize Rev. Sharpton,” the statement said, “but he does not have the right to accuse him of criminal activity, and riots and murders are criminal.”

This is part of the November 4, 2009 online edition of Frost Illustrated.

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