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| “ | Look at these idiots. Drinking, gettin' all riled up. If we could just find a way to activate these morons to actually attack or even kill some trans bathroom-loving liberal, we'd be the number one media company in the world. | „ |
| ~ Jordan Reed revealing his true colors behind closed doors at a rally. |
Jordan Reed is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Free Speech". He is the CEO of an alt-right media company who influences one of his fans to kill a Congressional candidate by spreading misinformation that wrongly characterizes the man as a pedophile.
He was portrayed by Jeffrey Nordling, who also portrayed Jack Westbrook in Criminal Minds.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Reed is an alt-right media provocateur who founded a multimedia company that publishes fabricated stories of liberals engaging in such lurid crimes as child sexual abuse, human trafficking, and cannibalism. While he was born into a wealthy family and lives an upper-class lifestyle, he affects a blue-collar, "average Joe" image to appeal to his working and middle-class fanbase. Reed's business model works, netting him millions of dollars.
He also regularly holds rallies in which he exhorts his followers to attack anyone who does not share their political views, while parsing his words such that he cannot be held legally responsible for anything they do. He also accuses anyone who criticizes him of trying to take away his right to free speech and of persecuting conservatives.
"Free Speech"[]
Reed holds a live-streamed debate with Democratic Congressional candidate Derek Hoyt in which he insinuates that Hoyt is involved with a "cabal" of Satan-worshiping pedophiles who abuse and traffic children. Hoyt angrily storms out of the interview, which Reed cites as proof of his guilt. He also Photoshops suggestive pictures of Hoyt with prepubescent girls to make it look like he is a child molester, and posts them on his social media.
When one of Reed's followers, Manny Lopez, assassinates Hoyt by pushing him in front of a bus, NYPD Homicide Detectives Kevin Bernard and Frank Cosgrove trace social media posts threatening to kill Hoyt to Reed's company. They question Reed, who denies any involvement, claiming that he simply "gives the people what they want".
After Bernard and Cosgrove arrest Lopez, Executive Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price and Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun charge Reed, as well, reasoning that Reed's lies about Hoyt spurred Lopez on to commit the murder. Bernard and Cosgrove arrest Reed in the middle of one of his broadcasts, during which he rants that he is being persecuted by the "deep state".
Reed's lawyer, Sanford Rems, argues that Reed's conspiracy theories are protected under the First Amendment, while Price counters that Reed directly called for Hoyt to be killed. Price plans to call Lopez as a witness to prove his theory, but his strategy is jeopardized when Lopez kills himself in jail.
Fortunately, Maroun saves the case by looking through Reed's security footage from one of his rallies and finding a clip of Reed saying that his company would make billions if he could get his followers, whom he disparages as "idiots" and "morons", to kill a liberal. When Price confronts Reed with this footage during the trial, Reed tries to dismiss his remarks as a joke. The jury is not fooled, however, and finds Reed guilty of facilitating Hoyt's murder. As he is led away to begin his sentence, Reed screams that his followers will not stand for the "tyranny" of his imprisonment.
External links[]
- Jordan Reed on the Law & Order Wiki
