Nick Sandmann has scored another victory in his campaign against the news outlets that falsely accused him in 2019 of abusing an elderly Native American protester in the nation’s capital.
With a win against CNN already under his belt, Sandmann may actually pull this off.
“The 250M lawsuit I [filed] against the Washington Post has been settled,” the 18-year-old Kentucky resident told the Washington Examiner Friday morning. “I have now settled with CNN and WAPO.”
One of his attorneys, Lin Wood, confirmed the details, announcing on social media, “For our present to [Nick Sandmann] to celebrate his 18th Birthday, [Todd McMurtry] & I gave Nicholas the gift of justice from … THE WASHINGTON POST.”
As of this writing, the tag price on the settlement between the Washington Post and Sandmann is unknown to the public. A spokeswoman for the newspaper said only this when pressed for comment by the Washington Examiner: “We are pleased that we have been able to reach a mutually agreeable resolution of the remaining claims in this lawsuit.”
Sandmann’s attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.
The Washington Post falsely reported in 2019 that a group of Covington Catholic High School students, including Sandmann, harassed a man named Nathan Phillips with taunts and racial slurs. The students did no such thing, as video evidence available at the time made clear. In fact, footage of the incident shows the teens were accosted not only by Phillips, who clearly sought out a confrontation, but they were also being harassed by a nearby gathering of members of the racist, anti-Semitic Black Hebrew Israelites. The Washington Post chose to give glossy, glowing news coverage to the Black Hebrew Israelites, a known hate group, all while portraying the Covington Catholic students (some of whom were black) as racists.
The Washington Post claimed specifically that the Covington students “swarmed” Phillips, abusing him with jeers. The Washington Post published a series of corrections later (behind a paywall), admitting its initial coverage had been erroneous.
Sandmann’s attorneys claimed the “gist” of seven articles and three tweets published by the Washington Post is that their client personally “assaulted” or “physically intimidated” the Native American protester and “engaged in racist conduct.” The attorneys also argued in their complaint that the Washington Post “wrongfully targeted and bullied Nicholas because he was a white, Catholic student wearing a red ‘Make America Great Again’ souvenir cap on a school field trip to the January 18 March for Life in Washington, D.C.”
Judge William Bertelsman of the U.S. District Court in Eastern Kentucky initially dismissed Sandmann’s defamation case against the Washington Post. However, the same judge reopened the case in October 2019, allowing for three of the defendant’s 33 claims to move to discovery.
On Friday, Sandmann thanked his attorneys for delivering him the win.
“Today,” he said, “I turned 18 & WaPo settled my lawsuit. Thanks to [Todd McMurtry] & [Lin Wood] for their advocacy. Thanks to my family & millions of you who have stood your ground by supporting me. I still have more to do.”
“The fight isn’t over. 2 down. 6 to go.”
Sandmann confirmed for the Washington Examiner that his remaining targets include Rolling Stone, CBS News, NBC News, ABC News, Gannett, and the New York Times.
