The US teenager in a viral video confrontation with a Native American elder is suing the Washington Post for $US250 million for defamation, claiming the paper falsely accused him of racist acts.

Key points: Nick Sandmann was caught on camera standing face-to-face with a Native American activist at a protest

Nick Sandmann was caught on camera standing face-to-face with a Native American activist at a protest The teenager is suing the Washington Post over its coverage of the incident, for the price Jeff Bezos paid for the paper

The teenager is suing the Washington Post over its coverage of the incident, for the price Jeff Bezos paid for the paper Mr Sandmann claims he was targeted as a white Catholic wearing a Make America Great Again cap

The lawsuit filed in the US state of Kentucky by Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann, 16, is the exact amount Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos paid for the Post in 2013, equivalent to about $349 million.

The lawsuit claims that the newspaper "wrongfully targeted and bullied" the teen to advance its bias against President Donald Trump, because Mr Sandmann is a white Catholic who wore a Make America Great Again souvenir cap on a school field trip to the March for Life anti-abortion rally in Washington DC last month.

The Washington Post's vice-president for communications, Kristine Coratti Kelly, said the paper was "reviewing a copy of the lawsuit" and planned to mount "a vigorous defence".

In a photo from the incident that later went viral, Mr Sandmann was seen standing face-to-face with Native American activist Nathan Phillips.

Mr Sandmann stared smiling at him while Mr Phillips sang and played his drum.

Recorded footage of the encounter that initially generated anger on social media was tightly focused on the large group of Covington students, some wearing Make America Great Again hats, who seemed to laugh derisively as they surrounded Mr Phillips, who was beating a drum.

The video also appeared to show some students making a "tomahawk chop" gesture, which Native American groups regard as offensive.

But longer videos of the incident showed Mr Philips and a small group with him had intervened to place themselves between the students and a street preacher from the Black Israelites, who was abusing the students through a megaphone.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 2 minutes 40 seconds 2 m 40 s Native American drummer approaches chanting students.

Speaking to the US Today Show on NBC last month, Mr Sandmann said he had not been disrespectful to Mr Phillips.

When asked whether he owed anyone an apology over the encounter, Mr Sandmann said he could not say sorry for standing in front of the veteran "listening to him".

"As far as standing there, I had every right to do so," Mr Sandmann said.

"My position is that I was not disrespectful to Mr Phillips. I respect him. I'd like to talk to him. In hindsight I wish we could have walked away and avoided the whole thing.

"But I can't say that I'm sorry for listening to him and standing there."

First of many lawsuits to come

In a statement, Mr Sandmann's lawyer Lin Wood said additional similar lawsuits would be filed in the weeks ahead.

A private investigation firm retained by Covington Diocese in Park Hills, Kentucky, concluded there was no evidence the teenagers provoked a confrontation in a report released last week.

The students were met at the Lincoln Memorial by offensive statements from members of the Black Hebrew Israelites, the report said.

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The investigation also determined that the students did not direct any racist or offensive comments toward Mr Phillips, aside from making the tomahawk chop gesture.

Mr Phillips claimed in a separate video that he heard the students chanting "build that wall" during the encounter — a reference to Mr Trump's pledge to build a barrier along the US border with Mexico.

The investigators said they found no evidence of such a chant and that Mr Phillips did not respond to multiple attempts to contact him.

ABC/Reuters