Washington Post faces $250 million defamation lawsuit for Covington Catholic coverage
by Katelyn Caralle | Washington Examiner
Nick Sandmann is suing the Washington Post for $250 million for defamation.
The Kentucky high school student at the center of a controversial confrontation with a Native American demonstrator at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial last month is claiming that the Post competed “to claim leadership of a mainstream and social media mob of bullies which attacked, vilified, and threatened Nicholas Sandmann.”
The lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks $250 million in damages, which it notes is the same amount that the Post’s owner Jeff Bezos paid for the newspaper in 2013.
“The Post must be dealt with the same way every bully is dealt with and that is hold the bully fully accountable for its wrongdoing in a manner which effectively deters the bully from again bullying other children,” the lawsuit reads.
Sandmann was the center of a media frenzy after he appeared in a video with a Native American leader, a participant in the Indigenous People’s March, who approached the high school student and banged a drum in his face.
The scene was initially perceived as the Covington Catholic High School student, donning a “Make America Great Again” hat, attempting to intimidate activist Nathan Phillips.
Longer videos revealed that Phillips approached Sandmann and the group of high school students, who were in Washington, D.C., to participate in the anti-abortion March for Life.
“The Post negligently and recklessly published its False and Defamatory Accusations despite internal inconsistencies in Phillips’ claims as well as material differences in his statements to other outlets published January 19 and 20,” Sandmann’s lawyers said in the lawsuit. “The Post negligently and recklessly published its False and Defamatory Accusations in derogation of accepted principles of journalistic ethics, including by failing to use heightened sensitivity when dealing with juveniles.”