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A former security chief for Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk has filed a defamation lawsuit against Candace Owens, alleging she falsely accused him of playing a role in Kirk’s death last year.
An attorney for Brian Harpole, who served on Kirk’s security detail on the day of his death, filed the suit against Owens on Thursday (April 29), according to Newsweek.
The suit alleges that Owens “falsely accused Brian Harpole of conspiring to assassinate Charlie Kirk,” citing a series of conspiracy theories she spread in the months following Kirk’s death.
“Owens is the most high-profile spreader of baseless Charlie Kirk conspiracy theories, but she is not the only one,” a portion of the suit provided to the outlet reads. “Her actions have encouraged and emboldened and otherwise given cover to other people to jump on the Charlie Kirk conspiracy bandwagon.”
The suit specifically points to a comment made by Owens describing Kirk’s security team as “shady” at the time of his death. A video posted to X in December 2025 shows a man believed to be Harpole engaging in allegedly suspicious behavior shortly before Kirk was shot.
“Merry Christmas @RealCandaceO! Here is the Fort Huachuca guy! ~His name is Brian Harpole~ with something very strange or secretive in his pants pocket,” the post reads.
Earlier that month, on her podcast, Owens said she received a “credible” tip from military personnel that Harpole attended a classified meeting with senior government officials at Fort Huachuca, a U.S. Army base in Arizona, days before Kirk was killed.
The suit pushes back against this claim, calling it “verifiably false” and stating that Harpole was in Dallas at the time.
Harpole's personal and professional reputation has been damaged as a result of Owens’s claims, according to the suit, and he has reportedly been under “a great deal of emotional distress” since the allegations began. Harpole is seeking punitive damages in the case.
“All of Owens’s statements are either false on their face or create a false meaning reasonably conveyed by the published words,” the suit reads. “It is simply false that Harpole knew Charlie Kirk was going to die or was involved in the planning, commission, or alleged cover-up of the assassination.”
Owens responded to the suit during an episode of her podcast on Thursday, claiming that neither she nor her lawyers received any notice of its filing.
“How curious. What do you mean? You never communicated with me. You never spoke,” she said. “You never issued any sort of retraction demand. You never answered me when I reached out. This is not at all how it normally goes. I’m pretty accustomed to how lawsuits work.”
Owens reportedly attempted to contact Harpole on December 17, 2025, for an “off-the-record discussion” regarding Kirk’s death, according to Newsweek, but he did not respond.
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