The Virginia gun rights groups deceptively portrayed in Katie Couric’s anti-gun documentary “Under the Gun” has filed a $12M defamation lawsuit.
The Free Beacon reports, “The Virginia Citizens Defense League filed the suit in federal court against Couric, as well as the documentary’s director Stephanie Soechtig, Atlas Films, and the cable channel Epix.”
“We were horrified to see how Couric and her team manipulated us and the video footage to make us look like fools who didn’t stand up for the Second Amendment,” said Philip Van Cleave, the group’s president. “We want to set the record straight and hold them accountable for what they’ve done. You shouldn’t intentionally misrepresent someone’s views just because you disagree with them.”
The documentary was edited to make the gun rights activists appear unable to answer one of Couric’s “gotcha” questions.
“If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?” Couric asked the activists.
The activists immediately responded with answers, however the film inserted nine seconds of silent b-roll of the activists blankly staring at their surroundings.
The groups lawyer, Libby Locke, called Couric and Soechtig “manipulators.”
“They manipulated the footage to manufacture a fictional exchange that never happened,” she said. “And, worst of all, they manipulated their own audience into believing that the VCDL members had been stumped by this Katie Couric question. This lawsuit is really the only way to hold Katie Couric and Stephanie Soechtig accountable for their misleading journalism.”
An Epix spokeswoman responded to the lawsuit by saying it was without merit. “The claims against EPIX in this lawsuit are completely without merit,” said Nora Ryan, the Epix spokeswoman.
The anti-gun propaganda documentary received critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival.
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