Defamation lawsuit filed against Candace Owens over statements in Charlie Kirk assassination

Right-wing influencer Candace Owens and a guest she had on her podcast, Mitchell Snow, are facing a defamation lawsuit filed in federal court on Thursday. 

The lawsuit, which was filed by Brian Harpole, who owns the private security firm Integrity Security Solutions, alleges that Owens, Snow and Owens' companies conspired to repeatedly publish false statements that Harpole had met with Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika Kirt, along with a member of the U.S. Secret Service and Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, one day before Charlie Kirk was assassinated. 

The lawsuit states that Owens continued to publish false statements even after she had received flight data proving that Harpole could not have participated in the conspiratorial meeting Snow had described on Owen's podcast, according to the Tennessee Star.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. 

Mitch Snow in interviews claimed Harpole was at an alleged classified meeting with senior government officials at the Fort Huachuca Army installation one day before Kirk’s death in September 2025, suggesting the meeting was held to coordinate Kirk's assassination, according to Forbes magazine.

In a post on X on Friday, Owens stood by the claims she had made about Erika Kirk and said she looks forward to the subpoena. 

"I have not retracted a single claim I have made about Erika Kirk. Stop with the b.s Twitter trends. I stand by every single statement I have made and have not edited any of my past statements in light of Brian Harpole’s lawsuit," Owens aid.