A Covington Catholic High School student has settled a $250 million lawsuit against the Washington Post, claiming the news outlet vilified him following his stand-off with a Native American protester, Nathan Phillips.
Nicholas Sandmann, who filed a lawsuit against the Post, NBC, and CNN, took to Twitter and wrote: “On 2/19/19, I filed $250M defamation lawsuit against Washington Post. Today, I turned 18 & WaPo settled my lawsuit.”
Sandmann also thanked his lawyers and supporters. “Thanks to @ToddMcMurtry & @LLinWood 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 teen and his family were seeking damages of over $525 million against the news outlets, claiming the outlets had falsely conveyed to readers and viewers that he was ‘the face of an unruly mob’ following a stand-off with Philipps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
CNN agreed to a settlement earlier in January but the amount was not disclosed.
The Kentucky high school student, who was wearing a MAGA hat, was participating in an annual anti-abortion March for Life, which happened to coincide with an Indigenous Peoples March.
Sandmann’s photo looking at Phillips quickly went viral.
Many news outlets had reported that Sandmann and his peers had ‘taunted’ and ‘surrounded’ the Native American, who was singing and drumming. They also claimed that the teen was ‘smirking’ while blocking the 64-year-old’s path.
One internet user commented: “I’m glad to hear this. He always seemed to be just a kid caught up in the moment, not a problem person.”
Another wrote: “Good for him. I remember this story clearly and feeling strongly he wasn’t trying to act intimidating in any sort of way. Again, good for him.”
A third added: “250 MILLION? That is outrageous. How – how can you even ask for that amount?”
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