Ziering got into a physical altercation with members of a Los Angeles mini-bike group in 2023 that left his car damaged and two bikers arrested.

Ian Ziering claims brawling biker’s civil case is attempted ‘extortion’

Ziering got into a physical altercation with members of a Los Angeles mini-bike group in 2023 that left his car damaged and two bikers arrested.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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May 8, 2026 12:02 a.m. ET

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Ian Ziering in 2020 in Miami. Credit:

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

- Ian Ziering is asking a judge to throw out several causes for action in a lawsuit against the star.

- Ziering calls the emotional distress claim in the suit against him "completely frivolous in nature," amounting to "little more than attempted civil extortion."

- The dispute arises from a physical altercation that broke out on New Year's Eve 2023.

Ian Ziering is standing up for his First Amendment rights.

The *Beverly Hills, 90210** *alum is asking a judge to dismiss several causes for action from a lawsuit filed against Ziering, stemming from a 2023 altercation he had with a group of mini-bikers on the streets of Los Angeles.

According to documents filed with the Los Angeles County division of California Superior Court and reviewed by **, Ziering is invoking the state's Anti-SLAPP statute as a defense against the suit's claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and malicious prosecution. Ziering's new motion describes the lawsuit as "completely frivolous in nature," tantamount to "attempted civil extortion," and claims that Jacob Hernandez, the biker who brought the suit, "should be in jail."

Ian Ziering and his daughters.

Ian Ziering/Instagram

The altercation between Ziering and Hernandez and his associates occurred on New Year's Eve in 2023. Per the documents, Ziering was stopped at an intersection in the Hollywood neighborhood of central Los Angeles with his 11-year-old daughter when they were "swarmed by members of an illegal minibike gang known as the 605 Gang."

Ziering was "attacked" by several members of the alleged gang after he exited the vehicle, he says. During the scuffle, one of the bikers smashed the windshield of Ziering's vehicle, which was seen in video of the altercation that circulated online at the time.

He spoke out about the altercation the following day, writing on social media, "This situation highlights a larger issue of hooliganism on our streets and the need for effective law enforcement responses to such behavior. As a citizen and a parent, I find it unacceptable that groups can freely engage in this kind of behavior, causing fear and chaos, while the response from authorities seems insufficient."

He ended the post by urging "city officials and law enforcement to take decisive action against such lawlessness and provide the necessary resources to prevent future occurrences."

Ziering made a police report following the altercation, and a few months later, the actor was "asked by the Los Angeles Police Department to review a photographic lineup to identify one of the individuals involved." Hernandez and one other alleged 605 member were ultimately arrested.

But Ziering is careful to note in his anti-SLAPP motion that his making a police report and reviewing a photographic lineup per LAPD's request constitute "the extent of my interaction with" with the force. He also points out that his subsequent social media post, and a follow-up post shared in June 2024, were the extent of his public commentary on the altercation — and neither identified Hernandez.

Still, Hernandez sued Ziering last year, alleging assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It's that latter issue that Ziering's new motion targets, citing California's anti-SLAPP statute. An acronym for strategic lawsuits against public participation, anti-SLAPP laws seek to relieve individuals who believe they are being persecuted for exercising their constitutional right to free expression.

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"While my client was being simultaneously attacked by four members of the 605 Gang, as shown in the video screenshots attached to my declaration, Plaintiff Hernandez violently and repeatedly struck my client’s windshield with a motorcycle helmet," Ziering's attorney, Michael Kernan, said in a statement to **.

Kernan added: "The windshield shattered toward my client’s 11-year-old daughter, who was inside the vehicle at the time. The screenshots attached to my declaration depict dangerous and reckless conduct by Hernandez that placed a child at risk. That conduct ultimately led to his arrest."

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"The Complaint seeks to hold Defendant Ian Ziering liable purely because Mr. Ziering's celebrity status and there is no basis for any liability," Wednesday's court documents claim.

While the new motion does not touch the assault or battery allegations, it vigorously defends the extent of Ziering's discussion of the altercation, both privately to LAPD, and publicly on social media.

"There are no facts in the Complaint that would support a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress of malicious prosecution," Ziering states in the filings. Further, these causes of action "indisputably arise from Mr. Ziering’s exercise of his constitutional right to free speech in connection with a matter of public interest and made before an official proceeding authorized by law."

Ziering is seeking these causes of action be dismissed from Hernandez's suit. Should the court rule in his favor, Ziering additionally seeks "recovery of attorney's fees" and other related costs.

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