Smeared student wins settlement

There was some vindication last week for Nicholas Sandmann, the young student from Covington, Kentucky, who was smeared by the media while attending a March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., with his school last January.

Sandmann’s legal team reached a settlement with CNN on its $275 million defamation lawsuit. According to the Sandmann lawyers, a number of additional defendants — including NBC Universal and The Washington Post — will be sued over the next 30 to 60 days for republishing “false statements” by Nathan Phillips, a known Native American activist

A year ago Covington students were waiting for their buses at the Lincoln Memorial when they were approached by Phillips, who beat a drum and sang loudly within inches of Sandmann.

CNN and other major media outlets zeroed in on Sandmann, who was wearing a red Make America Great Again ball cap, as he stood face-to-face with Phillips. The student stood quietly and was nonaggressive but because he was smiling, it was characterized the expression as a smirk by many in the liberal media.

The screenshot of that encounter went viral, and was used to portray Sandmann as a bigoted, white boy of privilege. Part of the filing from Sandmann’s lawyer’s website stated: “During the period of the drumming, a member of the protester’s entourage began yelling at a fellow student that we ‘stole our land’ and that we should ‘go back to Europe.’ ”

Sandmann later stated that he never felt like he was blocking the Native American protester and that it became clear that he had been singled out for a confrontation. He also denied that he or any Covington students said, ‘Build the wall,’ a reference to President Trump’s campaign promise to strengthen our southern border.

Attorneys for the Sandmann family accused CNN of “bullying” the student in order to push a political agenda, arguing that the network’s goal was “to smear a young boy who was, in its view, an acceptable casualty in their war against the president.”

“Contrary to its ‘Facts First’ public relations ploy, CNN ignored the facts and put its anti-Trump agenda first in waging a seven-day media campaign of false, vicious attacks against Nicholas, a young boy who was guilty of little more than wearing a souvenir Make America Great Again cap,” said the 58-page lawsuit filed by Sandmann’s legal team headed by L. Lin Wood.

Wood said the damages were sought due to “emotional distress Nicholas and his family suffered.” He said the family had to move from their home temporarily and that Nicholas was not permitted to attend school directly after the trip to Washington.

In his statement, Nicholas said he’s been called every name in the book — including a racist — but could not stand for the moblike character assassination against his family which he said endured hateful insults and even death threats from the “social media mob.”

One of the most offensive comments on the pro-life event came from Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who falsely tweeted, “The boys were protesting a woman’s right to choose & yelled ‘it’s not rape if you enjoy it.’ ” She later deleted the tweet.

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, called the settlement a wake-up call for reporters who don’t respect student free speech, adding that the media violated every journalistic principle so that Sandmann and other pro-life students would look bad.

Adult conservatives who often find themselves on the front lines of the political divide in America expect to be harpooned by the liberal press for their views.

But when schools teens are targeted, the slanderous attacks can leave emotional scars and destroy their futures.

Gaining a hefty monetary compensation through the court system is an effective counter punch against the false accusers.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com