A new lawsuit filed on Tuesday, first amendment advocate and YouTube influencer SeanPaul “Long Island Audit” Reyes sued the Mayor of Melbourne, Florida, for defamation in Florida’s Eighteenth Judicial Circuit.
Reyes is suing mayor Paul Alfrey for defamation based on postings Reyes says that Alfrey made in his “official capacity” on the Facebook page runs to post as mayor of Melbourne.
The YouTuber had been recruited by the widow of Alfrey’s brother to bring attention to a long-time dispute between the widow and the mayor over a shared roofing business. The widow alleges that Alfrey misused a company credit card and that she had been locked out of the business since her husband’s passing.
Reyes attended a Melbourne city council meeting in September where he made public statements attacking the mayor and openly accused a woman sitting in the front row of meeting of being the mayor’s mistress.
The YouTuber would publicly state that he “had been told” that the mayor had multiple mistresses and that he would mix and match mistresses at events depending on the audience he was attempting to appeal to.
According to Reyes, the mayor had different mistresses for Democratic based, Republican based and Independent based political events. He also said he “heard” that the mayor had been forced to resign from his position as a canine handler for the local police years early for improprieties involving seized narcotics and his police dog.
Reyes offered little to no proof of his accusations and has been openly reminding his fans that they have the right to contact the mayor and the city council to demand the mayor’s resignation from office based on his allegations.
According to the Facebook posting by the mayor, the city government had been inundated by complaints and threats from “the YouTuber.” With a key passage in his statement reading, “Unfortunately, his actions have resulted in hundreds of harassing calls to our police dispatchers, as well as death threats directed at me personally.”
Reyes claimed in his lawsuit that this statement constituted defamation by a public figure that damaged his reputation in an amount over $50,000.00. He claimed that the mayor knew that he did not threaten the mayor’s life and the mayor acted with malice in making the accusations as he knew that they were completely false when he made them.
Malice and falsehoods are two of the key factors in successfully suing a government official and a public figure. To prevail, Reyes would have to prove both, along with the damage to his reputation caused by the Facebook postings.
YouTuber Merb livestreamed late in the week to throw some “meh” shade on Reyes’ efforts. He said that he did not expect that the lawsuit would survive a motion to dismiss and that Reyes, who is representing himself in the suit, should have consulted an attorney before filing suit.
Google’s AI overview agreed with Merb, responding to our inquires with the warning, “Due to the complexities of suing public officials, it’s essential to consult a Florida attorney specializing in First Amendment or civil rights law. A lawyer can help you determine the strength of your case and guide you through the process, which could involve sending a cease-and-desist letter before filing a lawsuit.”
Mayor Alfrey has yet to officially respond to the lawuit.
Reyes continued to fundraise from both the new lawsuit and his on-going incidents with the mayor of Groton, Connecticut, in relation to an incident with a former Connecticut State Trooper in July.
On Thursday, his Help Me Fight These Unlawful Charges & Injustice fund took in $155.00 in new donations to win the crowdfunding title for the day.
The same fund took in $40.00 in new donations to win the crowdfunding title on Friday, with no other campaigns that we follow taking in new donations.
Saturday saw all the campaigns we follow, including all of the campaigns run by Reyes, get hit with goose eggs and no new donations received for the day.
Finally, Reyes rebounded on Sunday with his Help Me Fight These Unlaw Charges & Injustice fund taking in $25.00 to win the day.
Reyes is expected to return to his regularly scheduled outrage livestream on Tuesday.
