Motion to quash overruled in FireClean case

Last month, a defendant in a libel case filed a motion to quash allegations that he intended to harm gun lubricant maker FireClean by referring to it as Crisco cooking oil, but the motion was quickly overruled.

In an order issued May 2, a federal judge overruled George Fennell’s request that the court hear arguments to quash charges in the case, which he had introduced on the basis that he was improperly served court documents.

Also, the court approved a motion for Fennell to withdraw answers to the initial complaint that were filed alongside the motion to quash.

According to the order, the new deadline for Fennell and his company Steel Shield Technologies to answer has been scheduled for May 19.

In the summer of 2015, Fennell repeatedly shared social media describing FireClean, or its chemical composition, as identical to common cooking oil.

According to court documents, the dispute started when Fennell published a video comparing FireClean to his product, Weapon Shield. In the months following, Fennell’s comments escalated to the point where simply referred to the gun lubricant as Crisco.

FireClean, owned by David and Edward Sugg, named Fennell and Steel Shield as defendants in the lawsuit in March for an unspecified sum in damages.

The company also sued two bloggers who explored the rumor by submitting FireClean to infrared spectroscopy tests, which are used to identify chemicals, and comparing them to cooking oils such as Crisco. Although their tests were conducted separately, both of their published conclusions showed FireClean to have a similar construction to common cooking oils.

Article updated at May 20, 2016 at 6:30 am EST

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