Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann has officially filed a $250 million dollar suit against The Washington Post. This comes after his lawyers sent out letters to more than fifty people and organizations demanding an apology.
In what’s being described as “just the first of many,” lawyers for Sandmann filed the lawsuit late yesterday. One of Sandmann’s lawyers Todd V. McMurtry posted on Twitter that they were filing suit on behalf of Nick Sandmann.
Today, @LLinWood and I filed a suit seeking $250 million dollars in damages on behalf of Nicholas Sandmann against The Washington Post. This is just the first of many. https://t.co/ZYTXoGRU7S … #CovingtonBoys #CovingtonCatholic pic.twitter.com/bhMMjmpLXO
— Todd V. McMurtry (@FitLwyr) February 19, 2019
In the attached blog post titled “For truth, for justice, for Nicholas,” McMurtry and fellow lawyer Lin Wood described the lawsuit as their “first lawsuit on behalf of Nick Sandmann.” It would also detail that both “Lin and Tood will continue to bring wrongdoers before the court to seek damages in compensation for the harm so many have done to the Sandmann family. This is only the beginning.”
Wood would make it very clear that The Washington Post would not be the only organization to get sued. The Daily Wire reports Wood said, “Nick Sandmann is 16 years old & has 2 and half+ years to identify accusers & sue them. No member of mainstream & social media mob who attacked him should take comfort from not being sued in initial round of lawsuits which will commence next week. Time is Nick’s friend, not his enemy.”
They then include the complaint that is being filed against The Washington Post. The complaint specifically states “The Post wrongfully targeted and bullied Nicholas because he was the white, Catholic student wearing a red “Make America Great Again” souvenir cap.”
The complaint goes on to state that the Washington Post “[fanned] the flames of the social media mob into a mainstream media frenzy of false attacks and threats against Nicholas.”
They also declare that “The Post publishe[d] its False and Defamatory Accusations negligently and with actual knowledge of falsity or a reckless disregard for the truth.”
Sandmann made headlines when Native American activist Nathan Phillips confronted him and proceeded to beat his drum in his face at the March for Life rally in Washington, D.C. Numerous media outlets and celebrities claimed Sandmann was harassing Phillips based on an edited video clip that showed the teenager awkwardly standing in front of Sandmann. Reports also indicated that students were chanting “build the wall” as well as other racial slurs. More footage would eventually show that Phillips confronted Sandmann, and the students were not chanting “build the wall” or using racial slurs. The slurs were being hurled by a different group, the Black Hebrew Israelites.
Numerous celebrities and media personalities reacted to the original video. Comedian Kathy Griffin eventually deleted her Tweet that called for the doxxing of the students and their identities made public.
Beauty and The Beast producer Jake Morrissey called for the students to die via wood chipper. Netflix’s Atypical actor Michael Rapaport went on a profanity-laced tirade attacking the students.
Other celebrities like Daredevil’s Kingpin actor Vincent D’Onofrio declared that if you own or wear a red MAGA hat that it’s a sign you can’t be trusted. Former Charmed actress Alyssa Milano took it a step further and called the hats the new KKK white hoods on Twitter. She would double down in an op-ed she wrote.
This lawsuit comes after the Diocese of Covington cleared the students from wrongdoing. As reported by The Washington Times the report indicated, “We found no evidence of offensive or racist statements by students to Mr. Phillips or members of his group. Some students performed a ‘tomahawk chop’ to the beat of Mr. Phillips’ drumming and some joined Mr. Phillips’ chant.”
The report also stated, “We found no evidence of a school policy prohibiting political apparel on school-sponsored trips.”
Following the announcement of the lawsuit, President Donald Trump encouraged Nick stating, “Go get them Nick.”
“The Washington Post ignored basic journalistic standards because it wanted to advance its well-known and easily documented biased agenda against President Donald J. Trump.” Covington student suing WAPO. Go get them Nick. Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2019
The lawsuit against The Washington Post appears to be the first in a round of a number of lawsuits and it’s quite possible that celebrities like Alyssa Milano, Jim Carrey, Bill Maher, and others might soon see themselves as defendants as well.
What do you make of this lawsuit?