CNN Settles $275M Defamation Lawsuit Filed By Covington Catholic's Nick Sandmann
Sandy Malone - January 7, 2020
CNN settled a lawsuit filed by the high school student who they accused of antagonizing an elderly Native American.
Covington, KY – CNN has settled the $275 million defamation lawsuit filed by Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann.
The amount of the settlement was not disclosed, but Sandmann confirmed that the deed was done on social media.
"Yes, we settled with CNN," the high school student tweeted, according to CNN.
Nick Sandmann sued CNN, The Washington Post, and NBC Universal, seeking $800 million between the three.
His attorneys also threatened suits against numerous other media outlets and entertainment luminaries after they accused him of having antagonized an elderly Native American activist he encountered on a field trip to Washington, DC.
The outlets took video filmed by bystanders out of context and blamed the high school student in what became a national shaming.
But what actually happened was that a group of teenage boys from Covington Catholic were filmed doing school spirit chants as they waited for their bus to pick up their group at the Lincoln Memorial after the Right to Life march on Jan. 18, 2019.
A video was posted of an elderly man beating on a drum in the midst of the group of boys, and the poster alleged that the boys had surrounded the man in a threatening manner.
Social media went wild condemning the boys, many of whom were sporting Make America Great Again baseball caps.
Eventually, Sandmann outed himself as the teen in front of the group, smiling at the old man as he beat his drum and chanted.
"I never interacted with this protestor. I did not speak to him. I did not make any hand gestures or other aggressive moves. To be honest, I was startled and confused as to why he had approached me. We had already been yelled at by another group of protestors, and when the second group approached I was worried that a situation was getting out of control where adults were attempting to provoke teenagers," Sandmann said, according to NBC News.
Additional videos were released that showed the high school boys were being heckled by a group of Black Hebrew Israelites when the Native American man drummed his way into the middle of their group.
Black Hebrew Israelites are a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated black supremacist hate group who believe that they are the lost tribe of Israel and that other Jews are imposters.
Gunmen affiliated with that organization recently murdered a police officer and three innocent civilians in a targeted hate attack on Jews in Jersey City.
Despite a hate group being present and harassing children that day, the native man confronted the group of teens.
Many of the boys' critics who had initially condemned Sandmann and his classmates walked back their harsh comments after seeing the full videos of what actually happened.
But a number of major news media organizations, including CNN and The Washington Post, have not apologized for irreparably damaging the teen's reputation and calling on followers to harm him.
Sandmann's lawsuit against The Washington Post accused the newspaper of ignoring the truth and falsely accusing Sandmann of accosting Phillips.
U.S. District Court Judge William Bertelsman initially dismissed the case in July of 2019, but will now permit the lawsuit to proceed while narrowing its focus, according to The Washington Times.
The judge agreed to allow discovery to proceed on three of the 33 allegedly libelous statements made in The Washington Post's coverage of the incident.
Sandmann's attorney, L. Lin Wood, told the judge that the lawsuits against The Washington Post and NBCUniversal are going forward, FOX News reported.
Wood also announced that they intended to file suit against Gannett within 60 days.
CNN reported that the network settled to avoid a "lengthy and unpredictable trial."
Sandy Malone - January Tue, 2020
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