Covington teenager sues CNN for $275 million

Nick Sandmann, the Covington, Ky., high school student who was at the center of a viral confrontation with a Native American activist earlier this year, is suing CNN over its coverage of the incident, Reuters reports.

In the defamation lawsuit, which was filed on Sandmann’s behalf in Kentucky on Tuesday, CNN is reportedly accused of depicting the teen as the “face of an unruly hate mob” to the network’s viewers during the confrontation at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in January. 

The lawsuit reportedly accuses CNN of airing “defamatory” broadcasts and publishing articles online that of falsely accuse the 16-year-old student and his classmates of “engaging in racist conduct.”{mosads}

“The CNN accusations are totally and unequivocally false, and CNN would have known them to be untrue had it undertaken any reasonable efforts to verify their accuracy before publication,” the suit said, according to Reuters.

The lawsuit is reportedly seeking $275 million in compensatory and punitive damages over the network’s coverage of the incident.

Sandmann, who was in the nation’s capital at the time to participate with other students in the March for Life, came into contact with Nathan Phillips, who was in the area for the Indigenous Peoples March, according to multiple reports.

During the confrontation between Phillips and the students, Sandmann, who was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, was captured on video standing in front of Phillips while smiling. Other students, many of whom were also wearing MAGA hats, were also captured on video laughing and yelling while standing around Phillips.

The footage prompted backlash from many on social media who felt the teens were taunting Phillips. 

However, more extensive footage of the incident later emerged, showing that a group of Black Hebrew Israelites appeared to instigate the confrontation.

A suit was also filed on behalf of the teen last month against The Washington Post over its coverage of the confrontation, seeking $250 million.