Kentucky Teen Wins Lawsuit
In January 2020, CNN agreed to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of Nick Sandmann, the Covington Catholic School student who was unfairly accused of racism, taunting and other bad behavior following the March for Life in January 2019. (Education Reporter covered the story in detail in its February and March 2019 issues.)
In reality, Sandmann and his group were verbally attacked by members of a known hate group while waiting to board their bus for home because some of them were wearing MAGA hats. Then Native American Nathan Phillips arrived on the scene and proceeded to bang a drum in Sandmann's face. Through it all, the student remained calm and did not retaliate, nor did any members of his group.
The media however, sprang into action immediately, accusing the students of "surrounding and taunting an innocent Native American war veteran," among other things.
Closer inspection of a video showed that the students did not taunt Phillips or threaten him. Then the truth surfaced that Phillips was not a Vietnam Veteran and in fact had never been outside the country. But the damage was done. Sandmann's reputation was shredded by the mainstream media assault, by attacks on social media, and even attacks by celebrities. The family decided to sue.
According to Punching Bag Post, "this story is massively important because it sets a modern precedent that media outlets can be sued successfully. The settlement amount has not been released, but we can assume Sandmann will end up a very rich man. Hopefully, this case encourages more lawsuits against media outlets who are making up stories without bothering to check the facts before they publish."
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