KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An Olathe, Kansas man who was wrongly accused of being a “shooter” and “illegal alien” at the Chiefs Super Bowl rally in 2024 has died.
Attorney Arthur Benson confirmed to FOX4 that Denton Loudermill Jr. was found dead Friday morning by his family. No cause of death has been released at this time.
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The deadly shooting at the Chiefs Super Bowl rally occurred on February 14, 2024.
Republican Rep. Tim Burchett posted on X falsely identifying Loudermill as a shooter at the rally.
The post said the shooter was identified as an “illegal alien.” It had a picture of Loudermill sitting on the sidewalk in handcuffs. The post spread across social media, however, Kansas City police said Loudermill had nothing to do with the shooting and that they actually detained many people that day who were not involved.
Loudermill said that the posts have resulted in death threats and mental distress like anxiety, agitation and sleep disruption.
He filed a lawsuit against Burchett, seeking $75,000 in damages. However, last September, a federal judge in Kansas granted Burchett’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
A month later, a judge tossed three more lawsuits filed against three Republican Missouri state senators: Rick Brattin of Harrisonville, Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg and Nick Schroer of St. Charles County.
The judge cited issues with jurisdiction. Loudermill, who is from Olathe, filed in federal court in Kansas, rather than in Missouri, where the lawmakers were from.
The shooting outside Union Station killed a well-known radio DJ and injured more than 20 others, many of them children.
Loudermill’s lawsuits said he froze when the gunfire erupted, standing in the middle of the chaos so long that police had put up crime scene tape by the time he finally started to walk away. As he tried to go under the tape to leave, officers stopped him and told him he was moving “too slow.” They handcuffed him and put him on a curb, where people began taking pictures and posting them on social media, the suits said.
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Loudermill was ultimately led away from the area and told he was free to go.
Benson tells FOX4 that even after Loudermill’s passing, litigation will continue on his behalf.
Another attorney for Loudermill, LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, released the following statement to FOX4 Friday night.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news of Mr. Loudermill’s passing. More details will be provided in time, but for now, we ask that you honor the family’s need for privacy as they come together to grieve this tremendous loss.”
“While the family takes this time to mourn, we want to make it clear that this is not over. Mr. Loudermill should not have spent his final days burdened with stress and chasing down a lie that went viral due to the careless and heartless actions of a Congressman, Missouri senators, and social media influencers, who couldn’t be bothered to verify the truth before destroying a man’s life.”
“If you thought we were determined before, you haven’t seen anything yet!”
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