The Kentucky teenager at the center of a viral clash with a Native American activist at the Lincoln memorial is preparing to sue CNN for more than $250million for its coverage of the incident in January.
Nick Sandmann's lawyer L Lin Wood discussed the impending lawsuit in a Fox News interview airing on Sunday night.
He warned that it will seek even more in damages than a $250million suit filed against The Washington Post last month.
Sandmann became the target of widespread outrage after a video of him standing face to face with Nathan Philips while wearing a Make America Great Again Hat went viral.
Sandmann and fellow students from Covington Catholic High School were initially accused of initiating the confrontation, until additional videos emerged and showed that they were verbally accosted by a group of street preachers.
Sandmann, who was attending the anti-abortion March for Life, and Phillips, who was attending the Indigenous Peoples' March on the same day, have both said they were trying to defuse the situation.
Wood called the initial video a 'one-minute propaganda piece' and accused the media of jumping the gun by reporting it without context when it first came out.
'CNN was probably more vicious in its direct attacks on Nicholas than The Washington Post. And CNN goes into millions of individuals' homes,' Wood said.
'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.
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Nick Sandmann, the Covington Catholic student at the center of a viral clash with a Native American activist at the Lincoln memorial is preparing to sue CNN for more than $250million for its coverage of the incident in January
Sandmann's lawyer L Lin Wood discussed the impending lawsuit on Fox News, warning that it will seek even more in damages than a $250million suit filed against The Washington Post
Wood continued: 'Now you say you've seen the tape; if you took the time to look at the full context of what happened that day, Nicholas Sandmann did absolutely nothing wrong. He was, as I've said to others, he was the only adult in the room.
'But you have a situation where CNN couldn't resist the idea that here's a guy with a young boy, that Make America Great Again cap on. So they go after him.'
Wood said the lawsuit will be filed early next week, and will likely exceed $250million.
'I expect because of the way [CNN] went after Nicholas so viciously, that the claim for his reputational damage will be higher than it was against The Washington Post,' he said.
The suit against the Post seeks $200million in punitive damages and $50million for reputational damage.
Both Nick Sandmann (left) and Nathan Phillips (right) have said they were attempting to defuse the situation when the confrontation was filmed
The Post issued an 'editor's note' on its controversial coverage in response to the lawsuit last week, in which it admitted that its initial coverage of the encounter was flawed.
'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,' the note said.
Sandmann accused the newspaper, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, of falsely labeling him a racist when it engaged in 'targeting and bullying' and modern 'McCarthyism'.
In early articles, the Post reported that the schoolboys 'surrounded' and 'taunted' 64-year-old Phillips.
The newspaper claimed that a 'smirking' Sandmann had stood in Phillip's path, blocking him from moving.
More extensive video of the events told a radically different story, showing the boys were subjected to racist abuse by the group of Black Hebrew Israelites, before Phillips waded into the group of students and banged his drum directly in Sandmann's face.
According Sandmann's lawsuit: 'The Post ignored basic journalist standards because it wanted to advance its well-known and easily documented, biased agenda against President Donald J. Trump ... by impugning individuals perceived to be supporters.'
The Washington Post's Vice President for Communications Kristine Coratti Kelly responded by saying: 'We are reviewing a copy of the lawsuit and we plan to mount a vigorous defense.'
President Donald Trump gave Sandmann is his backing, quoting his suit and said: 'Go get them Nick. Fake News!'
The president quoted Sandmann's suit and tweeted: 'Go get them Nick. Fake News!'
A private investigative firm hired by the Covington Diocese concluded that the students did not instigate the confrontation.
In a report released last month, Greater Cincinnati Investigation Inc said it found no evidence students made 'offensive or racist statements' - though it acknowledged that the students performed the tomahawk chop.
In a letter to parents, Covington Bishop Roger Foys said the students 'were placed in a situation that was at once bizarre and even threatening'.
'The immediate world-wide reaction to the initial video led almost everyone to believe that our students had initiated the incident and the perception of those few minutes of video became reality,' the bishop wrote.
Students told investigators that they felt Phillips was coming into their group to join their own cheers, which were meant to drown out insults from the Black Hebrew Israelites.
They claimed that they were confused but did not feel threatened by Phillips, the report said.
'We found no evidence of racist statements to Mr. Phillips or members of his group,' the report said. 'Some students performed a 'tomahawk chop' to the beat of Mr Phillips' drumming and some joined in Mr Phillips' chant.'
A private investigative firm hired by the Covington Diocese and Covington Catholic High School concluded that the students did not instigate the confrontation (file photo)
https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/10/covington-catholic-teen-to-sue-cnn-for-250million-over-their-coverage-of-lincoln-memorial-clash/
Main photo article The Kentucky teenager at the center of a viral clash with a Native American activist at the Lincoln memorial is preparing to sue CNN for more than $250million for its coverage of the incident in January.
Nick Sandmann’s lawyer L Lin Wood discussed the impending lawsuit in a Fox News...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/20/01/10026974-6723131-image-a-19_1550627396035.jpg
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