(KNX 1070) - The family of Nicholas Sandmann, 16, the Covington Catholic High School junior whose confrontation with a Native American advocate in Washington D.C. went viral, is suing the Washington Post for $250 million in damages, arguing that the student was defamed, "targeted and bullied," following the paper's reporting of the incident.
In the lawsuit, Sandmann's attorney claims the viral image incited anger and compared the Post's story to "modern-day" McCarthyism.
The $250 million amount was arrived on because it was the amount Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest man in the world, paid for the Post when he bought it in 2013.
"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.when he was unexpectedly and suddenly confronted by Nathan Phillips (“Phillips”), a known Native American activist, who beat a drum and sang loudly within inches of his face (“the January 18 incident”)," the lawsuit alleges.
Longer videos from wider perspectives emerged later over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. They revealed that Phillips had intervened between the boys and the Black Hebrew Israelites, at a moment when the teens seemed to be getting rowdier and the black street preacher with a megaphone who had been making racist statements against both groups was escalating his rhetoric.
Sandmann told the “Today” show he was confused by the interaction with Philipps and was trying to “defuse the situation” by standing there and smiling.
In early February Sandmann's lawyers sent letters to several media outlets -- the New York Times, CNN, NPR, the Guardian, and several others.
“We plan to mount a vigorous defense,” Kristine Coratti Kelly, the vice president of communications for The Post, said in a statement.