Dennis Lennox named in defamation lawsuit

Dennis Lennox II, a Topinabee senior and Cheboygan County drain commissioner, has been named in a complaint filed by Ingham County Commissioner Mark Grebner.

The complaint, filed May 13, states Lennox published a defamatory statement by editing Grebner’s online Wikipedia page in Oct. 2008 to say that he was a “homosexual.”

Lennox allegedly wrote “Mark Grebner (born 1952) is a homosexual American politician and political consultant born in the state of Michigan.”

Lennox said he had not been served.

“There is no lawsuit,” he said.

An Ingham County Circuit Court Clerk also said that Lennox had not been served.

Two Michigan State University students, junior Bradly Michael Dennis and sophomore Anthony Michael Giammerinaro were also named in the complaint for editing Grebner’s Wikipedia page.

The multiple edits accused Grebner of being convicted with child molestation, named Osama bin Laden as a supporter of Grebner’s 2004 campaign and changed Grenber’s Wikipedia photo to an oil painting of Benjamin Franklin. The editors were traced to the students using IP addresses.

Grebner would not comment at the request of his lawyer.

Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings said Lennox would not be affected as drain commissioner even if there were a lawsuit.

“Elected official, given what they are, are subjected to all kinds of lawsuits. Some are valid and some are frivolous,” he said.

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