YouTube | CityNews Toronto

Judge Dismisses Teen's $250 Million Lawsuit After MAGA Hat Encounter

Updated September 6, 2021

The more conflicting sides there are to a story, the harder it is to tell. This becomes especially true if that story involves imagery that we understand to make specific, inflammatory statements and that imagery appears in the middle of a chaotic scene.

But no matter how difficult a story is to tell, it's still somebody's job to try and make sense of it all when the story makes a big enough impact.

And The Washington Post's ability to tell a particularly heated story was recently the subject of a massive lawsuit that seems to have reached its conclusion...at least for now.

On Friday, January 18, Nicholas Sandmann of Kentucky's Covington Catholic High School attended a March For Life rally in Washington D.C.

YouTube | Everyone Matters

As City News Toronto reported, a small religious group at the Lincoln Memorial made statements that incensed both Sandmann's fellow students and a group of Native American protesters who were also present.

As many of the students present were wearing Trump's signature "Make America Great Again" hats, the protesters soon took notice of them as well.

YouTube | CityNews Toronto

The protesters then beat drums and sang, while some of the students started howling in an imitation of their language.

Reactions across social media, however, centered on Sandmann as he stood in front of Native American elder Nathan Phillips.

YouTube | CityNews Toronto

As Philips sang, Sandmann stood silently with a smile on his face. According to CNN Business, Phillips would later tell The Washington Post that Sandmann was standing like this to block him and disallow him from retreating.

The Post then included this statement in their report.

This report led Sandmann's family to pursue legal action against The Washington Post for defamation.

YouTube | CityNews Toronto

As CNN Business reported, this was because Phillips' statements published therein invited widespread accusations of bigotry against Sandmann that he maintained were inaccurate.

As Sandmann told it, he was standing calmly and motionlessly as a means of defusing the escalating tension.

As he said, "I was not intentionally making faces at the protester. I did smile at one point because I wanted him to know that I was not going to become angry, intimidated or be provoked into a larger confrontation."

The law firm Hemmer DeFrank Wessels took on the case and filed a lawsuit seeking $250 million in "compensatory and punitive damages."

YouTube | Movieclips

Sandmann's family also pursued lawsuits against NBC and CNN, which are currently awaiting court rulings expected within the coming weeks.

The case against The Washington Post, however, was dismissed on Saturday by Judge William O. Bertlesman.

Reddit | William O. Bertlesman

Although he accepted Sandmann's statement that he was trying to deescalate the situation and had not intended to block Philips, he also maintained that there was nothing unlawful about Philips' conclusion that he had.

As CNN Business reported, Bertlesman ruled that this conclusion was Philips' opinion as protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Therefore, Bertlesman ruled that The Washington Post was not liable for any damages as a result of publishing Philips' opinions.

Reddit | kiddfrank

A representative from The Washington Post told CNN Business they were pleased with the decision and maintained that they had always sought to fairly and accurately report this story based on the available evidence at the time.

Sandmann's father, Ted, said the family plans to appeal the decision, adding that "If what was done to Nicholas is not legally actionable, then no one is safe."

h/t: CNN Business, CNN Business

Filed Under: