Hide Transcript Show Transcript

WEBVTT IT WAS THIS VIDEO, THAT FIRST CAPTURED MILLIONS OF VIEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA. COVINGTON CATHOLIC STUDENTS, INCLUDING 16-YEAR-OLD NICK SANDMANN, IN WASHINGTON D.C. FACE TO FACE WITH NATHAN PHILLIPS, AN ACTIVIST THERE FOR THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S MARCH. VIRAL VIDEOS, WERE FIRST SAID TO DEPICT SANDMANN AND OTHER STUDENTS MOCKING NATIVE AMERICANS AND BLOCKING PHILLIPS, AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL. BUT SANDMANN DENIED CLAIMS INCLUDING RACISM, CHANTING BUILD A WALL, AND SWARMING PHILLIPS. NOW, THIS LAWSUIT AGAINST THE WASHINGTON POST FILED BY SANDMANN’S ATTORNEYS SAYS THE LAWSUIT QUOTE IS BROUGHT AGAINST THE POST TO SEEK LEGAL REDRESS FOR ITS NEGLIGENT, RECKLESS, AND MALICIOUS ATTACKS ON NICHOLAS WHICH CAUSED PERMANENT DAMAGE TO HIS LIFE AND REPUTATION. THE LAWSUIT SAYS THE POST TARGETED AND BULLIED SANDMANN IN A SERIES OF ARTICLES BECAUSE HE WAS WHITE, CATHOLIC, AND WEARING A MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN HAT. IT ALSO SAYS THE POST PUBLISHED QUOTE A SERIES OF FALSE AND DEFAMATORY PRINT AND ONLINE ARTICLES WHICH EFFECTIVELY PROVIDED A WORLDWIDE MEGAPHONE TO PHILLIPS AND OTHER ANTI-TRUMP INDIVIDUALS. SANDMANN’S ATTORNEYS SAY HE WAS A PAWN IN THE PAPER’S POLITICAL WA THEY SEEK TO ENTER $50 MILLION -- $250 MILLION IN DAMAGES, SAYING THAT’S THE AMOUNT JEFF BEZOS PAID IN CASH FOR THE POST IN 2013. FEDERAL COURT DOCUMENTS ALLEGE QUOTE THE POST DID NOT CONDUCT A PROPER INVESTIGATION BEFORE PUBLISHING ITS FALSE AND DEFAMATORY STATEMENTS OF AND CONCERNING NICHOLAS. HIS ATTORNEYS SAY QUOTE THE ONLY CATEGORY OF INDIVIDUALS PRESENT AT THE JANUARY 18 INCIDENT THAT THE POST CHOSE NOT TO RELY UPON WERE THE COVCATH STUDENTS. AN INDEPENDENT, THIRD-PARTY INVESTIGATION FOUND THE COVCATH BOYS DID NOTHING WRONG IN D. LAW FIRM ALSO SAYS THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. THIS WASHINGTON POST LAWSUIT ALSO ASKS TO RECOVER ATTORNEY’S FEES AND EXPENSES, COURT FEES, AND ALL OTHER RELIEF DEEMED PROPER. AN INTERESTING NOTE THE TEEN’S ATTORNEY SAYS THIS WAS THE FIRST OUT OF STATE TRIP NICK SANDMANN HAD EVER TAKEN WITHOUT BEING WITH HIS FAMILY. LIVE AT THE FEDERAL COURTHOUSE IN COVINGTON, DAN GRIFFIN, WLWT NEWS

Advertisement Nick Sandmann’s lawyers file $250 million lawsuit against Washington Post Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The lawyers for the family of Nicholas Sandmann have filed a lawsuit against The Washington Post, seeking $250 million in both compensatory and punitive damages. Sandmann, 16, is the Covington Catholic High School junior at the center of a controversy after his face was depicted across social media, along with Native American protester Nathan Phillips.Attorneys Lin Wood and Todd McMurtry said it's their first lawsuit on behalf of Sandmann's family, and additional lawsuits will likely be filed. The lawsuit claims that the Post "wrongfully targeted and bullied Nicholas because he was the 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."The lawsuit adds that the Post engaged in "a modern-day form of McCarthyism."The lawsuit goes on to say that the Post "ignored basic journalist standards."WLWT contact the Washington Post for a comment. "We are reviewing a copy of the lawsuit and we plan to mount a vigorous defense," Kristine Coratti Kelly, vice president of communications, said via email.Read the full lawsuit hereThe lawsuit follows a nationwide firestorm of controversy involving students from Covington Catholic High School during a January march in Washington.The students were attending an annual March for Life trip, which coincided with an Indigenous Peoples March.Viral videos show students from the all-boys high school involved in an incident with a Native American elder during a trip to the nation's capital. The videos sparked a social media firestorm, with many calling out the young boys for their treatment of the elder.But lengthier video was released in later days that appears to show a different story.An independent, third-party investigation -- commissioned by the Diocese of Covington -- found the students made no offensive or racist statements toward Phillips or anyone who was with him that day.The report by Greater Cincinnati Investigation Inc. out of Taylor Mill, Kentucky, concluded there was nothing to indicate the students behaved offensively, nothing to show they chanted "Build The Wall," as some critics previously thought.The Diocese issued a written statement saying the students didn't start anything.