Mark Levine (politician)

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Early life, education, and early career

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Levine earned an economics degree magna cum laude from Harvard University, was a Fulbright scholar in Switzerland, and obtained a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.

Alexandria Delegate Wants City to Fire Officials or Police Who Espouse QAnon Theories

Vernon Miles July 24, 2020 at 12:00pm

Edited 1 p.m. — Alexandria Del. Mark Levine (D) said the City of Alexandria can and should fire any police officers or officials that subscribe to QAnon theories — a fringe movement rooted in theories about pedophilia rings and the Deep State.

In a back and forth exchange on Facebook, Levine said anyone who has information about anyone in law enforcement espousing beliefs related to QAnon — mainly centered around unsubstantiated claims about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, pedophilia, and satanism worshipped at the highest echelons of power — should report it to their department head.



In a series of texts, Levine later elaborated on this position.

It’s quite simple. Libel is not protected speech. If your personal belief is that Hillary Clinton tortured children in the nonexistent basement of a DC pizza parlor and you share that belief publicly, you can and should be found civily liable and have to pay damages.

QAnon is designed to maliciously spread libel and slander. Not only is it legal to take down their bullshit, it is illegal not to!

…Now if QAnon taught something else, that there was a flying invisible spaghetti monster that ate unicorns and washed away your sins every time you eat two meatballs, that would be protected speech. Because it does not slander any real people.

Spreading libel is also civilly liable. Which is why you should never spread someone else’s poston Facebook unless you’ve independently checked to see if it’s true.

Now, I concede it’s not often prosecuted, but it is both illegal and morally wrong and that is why I always chastise anyone who sends me objectively false information.

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