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Fox News host Jeanine Pirro smeared Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson by claiming he directed violence against a Baton Rouge police officer in 2016, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The defamation case Mckesson filed in Manhattan Supreme Court stems from Pirros commentary about a protest over the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling, a black man, on July 5, 2016. Mckesson, 32, had attended a protest over the shooting and was arrested, but charges against him were dismissed and he and about 185 other protesters later settled a suit against the Baton Rouge police for $136,000.

An anonymous police officer filed a separate suit, alleging he was hit in the face by a rock a protester threw. The protester, the cop said, was incited by Mckesson. The cop named Mckesson and Black Lives Matter as defendants.

On Sept. 28, a federal judge in Louisiana tossed the officers suit, ruling that Black Lives Matter was a social movement that could not be sued. The judge also ruled the cop failed to explain how Mckesson allegedly incited the violence.

Black Lives Matter a social movement, can't be sued, judge rules

Enter Pirro.

In this particular case, Deray Mckesson, the organizer, actually was directing people, was directing the violence, Pirro said on Fox and Friends after the judge had ruled.

Youve got a police officer who was injured, he was injured at the direction of DeRay Mckesson, DeRay Mckesson walks away with a hundred thousand dollars, for an organization that is amorphous, we got a problem in this country.

Mckesson said Pirros comments have endangered his safety and seeks damages to be determined at trial.

Fox News' Jeanine Pirro charged for driving 119 mph upstate

I was found not guilty & I didnt direct any violence. In fact, I was protesting the violence of the police. Stop lying, he tweeted at Pirro.

Pirro has said on Twitter she was relying on paragraphs from the cops lawsuit during her appearance. But Mckesson says she wrongly described them as facts.

Pirro made these false statements of fact on the highest viewed morning cable show in the country, Fox & Friends, which reaches over 1.7 million viewers, Mckessons suit reads. These statements of fact are false, and were either known to be false by Defendant Pirro or were made with reckless disregard for whether they were true.

Fox News said it will fight the suit.

We informed Mr. McKessons counsel that our commentary was fully protected under the First Amendment and the privilege for reports of judicial proceedings, the network said.

A Washington Post column described the Fox & Friends segment as a remarkably efficient instance of the sort of race-baiting thats all too common on Fox News opinion shows.

Pirro, 66, served three terms as Westchester County district attorney after serving three years as a county judge. Last weekend on her show, Justice With Judge Jeanine, she called for a cleansing of FBI and Department of Justice officials investigating President Trump.

Last month, the Daily News reported that Pirro had been arrested upstate for driving 119 mph in a 65 mph zone.

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Black Lives Matter activist sues Jeanine Pirro for defaming ...