[ad_1]
CNN
—
Wandrea “Shaye” Moss’ life changed forever on December 4, 2020, when Rudy Giuliani spread conspiracy theories about her online, the former Georgia election worker who Giuliani was charged with defamation in federal court on Tuesday.
“On that day, lies were spread about me and my mother, saying that we are not doing our job, that we are doing fraud. All these crazy lies were spread about us that day, publicly, everywhere,” Moss testified.
“It’s like I’m trapped under someone else’s power” he said later. “I can’t do anything, I feel helpless, and the only thing around me is lies.”
Although Moss shares much of his experience as a victim of conspiracy theories with the The selection committee of the House investigated on January 6, 2021his testimony Tuesday may be the most detailed public account he has ever given about that period of his life.
At times, the girl’s emotions were seen as she took the stage, crying as she recalled how her life had changed since the election, including losing her job, entering treatment and seeing his family members threatened.
“I’m most afraid of my son finding me and my mother hanging outside my house on a tree, or getting the news at school that his mother was killed,” Moss said in on Tuesday. “That’s what scares me the most.”
Moss and his mother, Ruby Freeman, are asking the jury to consider awarding them between $15.5 million and $43 million for the defamation they suffered as well as damages The money for the emotional crisis is caused by a series of private statements Giuliani and others, including the former President. Donald Trump and his campaign, made it about them. The judge in the case has already ruled on Giuliani’s decision to publish false information.
During her cross-examination Tuesday, Moss recounted to jurors how even her 14-year-old son’s cell phone was flooded with violent and racist messages against Moss. and his family after Giuliani attacked him and his mother.
“I had to tell him that racism is real, and it will come. And it was just – I can’t explain it,” said Moss with tears. “I felt like the worst mother ever to let him hear this, to have to go through day by day.”
Even today, Moss said, he suffers from anxiety and panic attacks from the threats he and his family continue to receive.
“I can’t get rid of the feeling that someone will act on what they are telling me, because it can’t be stopped,” he testified.
Racist texts and social media messages
Moss described spending hours crying and scrolling through the “hateful, racist, violent, vile, vile” messages she received on her phone and Facebook account.
One of the Facebook messages shown to the jury on Monday called Moss a “********rb***h.”
Another said: “Be happy in 2020 not 1920.”
“Everybody knew exactly what a black woman was going to do in 1920,” Moss testified. “It hurts. It hurts to know that’s how people feel when I break my back to make sure their votes count.”
Jurors also heard messages left on Moss’ son’s cell phone telling Moss he was going to “hang” and was going “to hell.”
His attorney, John Langford, at one point showed jurors a video shared by Giuliani and Trump on Twitter of him and his mother working at a Georgia polling station.
“The video shows how hard we are working to make sure every vote is counted,” Moss said.
“I don’t know what to think. I was so confused and shocked and – I didn’t know what to think. I was speechless,” he said, referring to his reaction to watching the video shared online.
Moss said his superiors at work first alerted him to the online conspiracy theory and hate speech it was causing.
“I realized I was getting all kinds of hateful, racist, violent, nasty, nasty messages,” she said.
Among those messages was one in which a man accused him of “slanderous actions against America (which) are punishable by death.” Langford asked if he knew what treason was then.
“I don’t know. I thought it was an old word, like Paul Revere or Bridgerton,” Moss replied. “They kept telling me the death penalty, and they could hang me and they could hang my mother.”
At one point, Langford asked Moss to respond to certain lies that Giuliani had spread about him.
“Did you make up a lie that there was water?” he said.
“No, I didn’t,” Moss replied.
“Did you get everyone out and make sure before you started counting the votes?”
“No way.”
“Did you count the ballots?”
“No way.”
“Did you steal the ballot?” Langford asked
“No, man,” Moss said.
This article has been updated with additional information.