Lawyer Adam Moskowitz says he feels “threatened” by influencer Ben “Bitboy” Armstrong—and he’s contacted the FBI and local police because he’s concerned for his and his family’s safety.
Moskowitz told Decrypt in an interview that the threats came rolling in after his law firm filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of its clients against a number of influencers, including Armstrong, back in March. Moskowitz’s clients are seeking over $1 billion in damages and allege that Armstrong and others promoted the sale of unregistered securities due to their paid sponsorships with the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX.
“My family and I have never been threatened [before this], whether in a court of law or outside a court of law. So I take this very seriously. I’ve informed the FBI, and I’ve informed our local Pinecrest Police,” Moskowitz told Decrypt, referring to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the police department in his area of Pinecrest, Florida.
“I do fear for what may happen and what, even worse, maybe one of his followers may do,” the attorney said. “If they want to follow one of these influencers, obviously, they have influence over people and we see all the time how people can incite violence through the internet.” The FBI and Pinecrest Police have not yet responded to Decrypt’s requests for comment.
Armstrong has for weeks publicly harassed Moskowitz, sharing screenshots of emails the influencer has sent the lawyer in which Armstrong refers to Moskowitz as a “pussy” and a “bitch.”
According to a court filing Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in the Miami division of the Southern District of Florida, Armstrong has left voicemails with Moskowitz Law that are “full of vulgarities,” including one where Armstrong states, “We’re going to have First Amendment protesters around your house 24/7 day and night.” The filing also states that Armstrong left another message claiming that the “home addresses” of Moskowitz and his colleagues are “being circulated on Reddit.”
Armstrong did not respond to Decrypt’s requests for comment regarding Moskowitz’s claims. But the influencer previously told Decrypt that he planned to vigorously defend himself against the lawsuit.
“I’ve never spoken with anyone at FTX or as a marketing agent acting on their behalf. Not once,” he told Decrypt via DM on Twitter. “So the allegations against me are 100% false and it will be extremely easy to provide evidence of this.”
Moskowitz said that the behavior from the other influencers in the lawsuit compared to Armstrong has been “night and day.”
“I have filed thousands of class-action lawsuits over the past 30 years,” Moskowitz said. “I have never had a defendant act anywhere near Mr. Armstrong’s conduct. None of the other influencers have said a word to us,” he added.
Wednesday’s court filing also claims that Armstrong evaded being served legal papers while “continuing to make daily violent threats towards Undersigned Counsel and plaintiffs.”
Armstrong countered the evasion claims with a tweet arguing that the legal summons were initially sent to an incorrect address in Arizona, while Armstrong and his offices are based in Georgia.
Wednesday morning, the Moskowitz law firm included a link to a video it said is proof of Armstrong “finally accepting service” of the lawsuit.
The filing also references a number of Armstrong’s tweets, where he calls Moskowitz “dumb” and counters that the “unregistered securities” named in the lawsuit are referred to as “commodities” by the U.S. Commodities and Futures Trading Commission.
The filing also cites an email Armstrong sent to the law firm, in which he calls the law firm’s employees “dumb mother fucking cunts” and says he is “coming for all your fucking licenses.”
Earlier this week, Armstrong tweeted multiple times about Moskowitz and his law firm associates to his one million Twitter followers, including a tweet in which he called Moskowitz “a walking piece of human garbage.”
“There’s some crazy people out there that will follow crazy advice, even if it’s not directly from the person himself,” Moskowitz told Decrypt. “Even if it’s not directly from the person himself, even if it’s not Ben Armstrong, coming to cause harm. That’s not the big fear. The big fear is that one of his three million followers will act on his instructions.”
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Source: https://decrypt.co/125630/lawyer-adam-moskowitz-fbi-bitboy-threatening-emails-calls
