The former head of security for Charlie Kirk sued podcaster Candace Owens on Thursday for defamation, claiming that she falsely implicated him in a conspiracy to assassinate Kirk.
The former security chief, Brian Harpole, alleged that Owens, a right-wing firebrand, inaccurately accused him of meeting with Kirk’s wife, Erika, at a military base a day before Charlie Kirk was shot at Utah Valley University in September. He is also suing Mitch Snow, a retired Army sergeant who stated on Owens’ podcast that he was an eyewitness to what he described as the secret encounter.
In the 69-page lawsuit, Harpole, who owns a private security firm and worked for Kirk for several years, accused Owens of “engaging in a coordinated and deliberate campaign designed to defame” him.
He denied any involvement in any plot to assassinate Kirk and called Owens a “conspiracy theorist” who displayed a “pattern of seeking public attention and media exposure.”
(Rebecca Noble | The New York Times) Candace Owens delivers remarks during AmericaFest at Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Ariz., Dec. 19, 2022.
Owens responded to the lawsuit on her daily podcast Thursday evening, calling it “insane,” challenging Harpole’s allegations and denying any wrongdoing. “I’ve only ever been interested in getting to the truth of what happened to Charlie Kirk,” she said.
A spokesperson for Owens said she had no comment beyond what she said on her podcast. Snow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee, is the latest volley in an internal conflict that has been roiling the country’s political right, with factions forming around divisive issues like the war against Iran; President Donald Trump’s economic and immigration policies; and the circumstances around the killing of Kirk, who co-founded the conservative youth group Turning Point USA.
Owens has placed herself at the center of many of those disputes, especially when it comes to Kirk, who for many years was a close friend of hers. She has made his killing a primary focus of her podcast, framing it without evidence as the product of a far-reaching conspiracy involving Israel, France and the U.S. military. And she has repeatedly suggested to her nearly 6 million YouTube subscribers that Erika Kirk, the activist’s widow, was involved in an elaborate cover-up.
The commissioner of Utah’s Department of Public Safety has said that Tyler Robinson, who was charged with killing Charlie Kirk, acted alone, although Trump and others have broadly accused “the radical left” with inciting the violent act.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025.
In July, Owens was sued for defamation by Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, for claiming she is transgender. In recent months, Owens has sparred publicly with right-wing influencers Jessica Reed Kraus and Laura Loomer, who called her “depraved” because of her treatment of Erika Kirk. The lawsuit from Brigitte Macron is still pending in Delaware state court.
Last month, Trump got involved, posting on Truth Social that Owens is an “extremely Low IQ individual” and sharing a doctored image that referred to Owens as “vile person of the year.” He also called Owens’ claims about Brigitte Macron “despicable.” Two members of Congress this week introduced a bipartisan House resolution condemning Owens, as well a left-wing livestreamer, for “antisemitic hate-filled rhetoric.”
Harpole’s suit seeks an injunction requiring Owens to remove defamatory statements from social media as well as financial damages. His lawyer, Matthew Sarelson of the Dhillon Law Group, said on the social platform X that he and his client “will not be providing any other statements.”
On her podcast, Owens suggested that she welcomed the lawsuit because she believed it would allow her to use the discovery process to seek additional information from Harpole and Turning Point, including text messages, video footage and a deposition of Erika Kirk.
In January, Turning Point also sent Owens a cease and desist letter, portions of which she read on her show at the time. The letter demanded that Owens stop claiming that the nonprofit or any of its employees or affiliates “knew about the assassination beforehand, participated in the assassination day-of, or covered up the truth about the assassination after the fact.”
A spokesperson for Turning Point did not respond to a request for comment.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.