Shirley Sherrod, who resigned from her post at the USDA after a video of her was taken out of context, said she plans to sue the blogger who first accused her of racism.
Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted the edited video of Sherrod, who is African American, speaking to the NAACP. Her full speech recounted a time where she moved past her racist views to help a white farmer, but the edited version made it seem like she did not use her full resources to help the farmer. The video caused an uproar and led her to resign, reportedly under intense pressure. But when the full video surfaced, both Vilsack and President Obama apologized for jumping to conclusions. Vilsack has offered Sherrod another job, but she said she is still thinking it over.
At a conference today in San Diego for the National Association of Black Journalists, Sherrod says she does not seek an apology from Breitbart, but will “definitely sue” him, according to the Associated Press.
It is unclear at this point what she will sue Breitbart for, but she will probably have a tough road ahead of her. Years of precedent show it’s extremely difficult to win a case based on libel in the U.S.