Far right activist Lynley Kerr Hogan is suing Los Gatos council members Rob Moore and Maria Ristow and Los Gatos Democracy Tent moderator Lee Fagot for defamation.
Hogan alleges in the suit, filed on Nov. 14, that Moore, Ristow and Fagot conspired to defame her and prevent her from attending meetings hosted by the Democracy Tent – a group that encourages people to discuss public policy once a week. Hogan had been part of a far-right group that had for months disrupted town council meetings in 2021, and has recently attended several town council meetings this year espousing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric during the public comment period.
Hogan is alleging in the lawsuit that Moore and Ristow defamed her to Fagot in saying that she went to a town council meeting and threatened to kill someone, and that Fagot defamed her by making a similar statement. She alleges that the three violated her First Amendment rights, in intentionally excluding her from Democracy Tent’s weekly public meetings and intentionally causing her “emotional distress.”
Hogan began attending the weekly meetings in April 2023, according to the complaint, but was no longer able to do so by November. The complaint states that Fagot told Hogan that members of the group voted to ban her from the meetings because of the alleged death threat.
“[Hogan] suffered extreme shame, humiliation, mortification and shock from being excluded from the meetings and learning that the defendants were defaming her to other people,” the complaint reads.
The lawsuit which seeks damages “in excess of $35,000,” also takes aim at Moore specifically, alleging that he wrote a “libelous and misleading post” on Nextdoor in response to a post featuring a flier Hogan made about drag queens. Hogan alleges that Moore added a link to an article on Patch.com from 2013 about a restraining order that the town obtained against Hogan; the complaint states that Moore should have known that the case was later dismissed.
The suit alleges that Moore deceived people and defamed her on Nextdoor with his post, depicting her in a false light and retaliated against her for “exercising a constitutional right” in putting up the posters.
The Los Gatos Town Council discussed the lawsuit in a special closed session meeting on Dec. 3, and town attorney Gabrielle Whelan reported in the council’s open session meeting hours later that the council authorized the defense of Moore and Ristow.