For more than a year, the owners of Race Fuel have squared off against community members in Cudell who don't want one of their gas stations in their neighborhood. Over the summer, one of the owners sued a Cleveland organizer for making false statements after he called out the group for racist conduct during a heated city council meeting. 

On Tuesday, a judge dismissed the case, strengthening free speech for activists who speak out in their community, according to court records.

In September 2024, people showed up to multiple Cleveland City Council meetings to protest a zoning change that would allow Race Fuel to set-up shop in Cudell. During and after one of the meetings, Dallas Eckman witnessed what he called racist behavior from the owners of the gas station, including Ibrahim Shehadeh. 

During his public comment in April 2025, Eckman said that supporters of the gas station made animal noises and “flicked cigarettes” at protestors and their families, including children. By the summer, Shehadeh filed suit against Eckman, claiming that not only were the statements false, but they harmed Shehadeh’s reputation.

Judge Shannon Gallagher dismissed the case, ruling that Shehadeh could not win because Eckman’s statements were made as a public commenter. Further, the law may also require Shehadeh to pay Eckman’s attorney’s fees. 

Shehadeh has one remaining active case in the local courts: a defamation case against him, filed by Antoine Tolbert and Rameer Askew, two of the New Era Cleveland organizers acquitted after an explosive six-week jury trial this summer. The complaint against New Era members stemmed from a dispute last year at a separate Race Fuel in Lee-Harvard. Tolbert and Askew claim that Shehadeh pushed a local news outlet to run a sensationalized and inaccurate news story that damaged their reputation and led to their unfounded prosecution. 

Upbeat Nonsense reached out to Shehadeh’s attorneys for further comment. The web version of this story will be updated with any new information.