A blogger championing the case of a Muslim-to-Christian convert from Ohio says allegedly defamatory comments she’s being sued over were protected free speech.
Atlas Shrugs blogger Pamela Geller also says many of the postings singled out in a federal lawsuit could fall into the realm of hyperbole and not defamation.
Geller says in a federal court filing Tuesday that she is a journalist writing about a matter of public interest and is protected by the First Amendment.
Ohio attorney Omar Tarazi sued Geller for $10 million last month to compensate him for damage he alleges Geller’s comments did to his reputation.
Tarazi represented the parents of Rifqa Bary, a Christian teenager who fled from her Columbus-area home to Florida, saying she feared harm from her Muslim mother and father.