Covington Catholic High School Student Nick Sandmann to Sue CNN for Over $250 Million

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Mar 9, 2019

Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann and his lawyer L. Lin Wood will sue CNN for more than $250 million for their alleged “vicious” and “direct attacks.”

Fox News reports L. Lin Wood announced the lawsuit against CNN on Life, Liberty & Levin that will air on Sunday at 10 p.m. ET.

Wood told Levin, “CNN was probably more vicious in its direct attacks on Nicholas than The Washington Post. And CNN goes into millions of individuals’ homes.”

He added, “They really went after Nicholas with the idea that he was part of a mob that was attacking the Black Hebrew Israelites, yelling racist slurs at the Black Hebrew Israelites. Totally false.”

Wood specifically described CNN’s coverage of Sandmann and his classmates:

“The CNN folks were online on Twitter at 7 a.m retweeting the little one-minute propaganda piece that had been put out. … They’re out there right away going after this young boy. And they maintain it for at least two days. Why didn’t they stop and just take an hour and look through the Internet and find the truth and then report it? Maybe do that before you report the lies.”

Wood then revealed the lawsuit will be issued on “Monday, Tuesday at the latest.”

CNN will be the second news and media outlet to be sued by Wood and Sandmann. They previously filed suit against The Washington Post.

Wood tells Fox News he believes the claim against CNN is even stronger than The Washington Post.

“I expect because of the way they went after Nicholas so viciously, that the claim for his reputational damage will be higher than it was against The Washington Post.”

He went on to discuss the damages they will seek against CNN:

“I would think the punitive-damage award against CNN that we’ll seek will be at least the same $200 million as it was against The Washington Post. But the compensatory damage to Nicholas’s reputation, that number I expect will be higher.”

Nicholas Sandmann and his fellow students were accused of harassing Native American activist Nathan Phillips while they attended the March for Life rally in Washington, D.C. in January. Sandmann and his classmates were accused by numerous media outlets and celebrities of chanting “build the wall” as well as other racial slurs. However, extended footage of the encounter showed that it was Phillips who confronted Sandmann and the students were not chanting “build the wall” or using racial slurs.

Sandmann and his lawyers including Wood sent letters to over 50 personalities and organizations that “tell the media outlets and individuals named to preserve all documents or recorded material associated with the incident, including emails connected with reporting the event.”

Some of the organizations and celebrities that were sent letters included The Washington Post, Bill Maher, Jim Carrey, Alyssa Milano, CNN, and Kathy Griffin.

The Washington Post would be the first organization to be sued. Todd McMurtry, another of Sandmann’s lawyers, announced the suit on February 19th.

The Washington Post would respond to the suit with an Editor’s note on March 1st.

It reads in part:

“A Washington Post article first posted online on Jan. 19 reported on a Jan. 18 incident at the Lincoln Memorial. Subsequent reporting, a student’s statement and additional video allow for a more complete assessment of what occurred, either contradicting or failing to confirm accounts provided in that story — including that Native American activist Nathan Phillips was prevented by one student from moving on, that his group had been taunted by the students in the lead-up to the encounter, and that the students were trying to instigate a conflict.”

Wood and McMurtry would issue their own press release on March 4th in response to the Editor’s note as well as a letter from The Washington Post’s General Counsel, Jay Kennedy.

“The Friday night efforts by the Post to whitewash its wrongdoing were untimely, grossly insufficient and did little more than perpetuate the lies it published – lies that will haunt and adversely impact Nicholas for the rest of his life.”

They add:

“The Post ignored its own culpability and wrongdoing. Mr. Kennedy’s letter stated that the Post “provided accurate coverage.” It did not and its belated public relations efforts change nothing and fool no one. The Post made no effort to retract and correct the lies it published.

The Post did not have the integrity to unequivocally admit its negligent and reckless violations of fundamental journalistic standards documented by its complete failure to investigate the incident at the National Mall before publishing lies about a child. One need only review the Post’s published list of its own Policies and Standards at https://www.washingtonpost.com/policies-and-standards/?utm_term=.ec515ec8b6aa to find violation after violation after violation.”

McMurtry and Wood continued:

“The Post did not have the character to apologize to Nicholas and seek his forgiveness.

Highlighting its arrogance and lack of contrition, the Post announced its “deletion” of one of its false and defamatory tweets about the incident and Nicholas by re-posting the tweet so that its lies will also forever remain available on the Internet and in social media.”

They concluded:

“Last Friday night the Post made clear that it has learned no lesson and remains willing in the future to falsely attack others to further its political agenda, including false attacks on children.

The Post has now double downed on its lies. As Nicholas’s lawyers, we will now double down on truth and aggressively continue our legal efforts to hold the Post accountable and obtain justice for Nicholas in a court of law.”

What do you make of the lawsuit against CNN? What do you think about The Washington Post’s Editor’s Note and the subsequent response from L. Lin Wood and Todd McMurtry?

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