Media

Covington teenager planning to sue CNN for at least $250M, lawyer says

by Joe Concha - 03/09/19 5:06 PM ET

A lawyer representing Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann said in a new Fox News interview that Sandmann plans to sue CNN for at least $250 million.

L. Lin Wood, the attorney, said in an interview with Fox News host Mark Levin airing Sunday that they will file the suit early next week, on Monday or Tuesday.

“CNN was probably more vicious in its direct attacks on Nicholas than The Washington Post. And CNN goes into millions of individuals’ homes. It’s broadcast into their homes,” Wood told Levin.

“They really went after Nicholas with the idea that he was part of a mob that was attacking the Black Hebrew Israelites, yelling racist slurs at the Black Hebrew Israelites — totally false — saying things like that Nicholas was part of a group that was threatening the Black Hebrew Israelites, that they thought it was going to be a lynching,” he continued.

“Now you say you’ve seen the tape. If you took the time to look at the full context of what happened that day, Nicholas Sandmann did absolutely nothing wrong. He was, as I’ve said to others, he was the only adult in the room. But you have a situation where CNN couldn’t resist the idea that here’s a guy, a young boy, with a ‘Make America Great Again’ cap on. So they go after him,” Wood added.

“They were after him,” he said. “They woke up on Saturday morning and started throwing punches. The CNN folks were online on Twitter at 7 a.m. retweeting the little one-minute propaganda piece that had been put out by @2020fight. We’ll find out who that person or entity was behind that eventually. But they’re out there right away going after this young boy. And they maintain it for at least two days.”

“Why didn’t they stop and just take an hour and look through the internet and find the truth and then report it?” Wood asked. “Maybe do that before you report the lies. They didn’t do it. They were vicious. It was false. CNN will be sued next week, and the dollar figure in the CNN case may be higher than it was [against] The Washington Post.”

The Hill has reached out to CNN for comment.

“I expect because of the way they went after Nicholas so viciously that the claim for his reputational damage will be higher than it was against The Washington Post. The Post was $50 million for the reputational damage, and we can discuss why that figure, $200 million in punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish and to deter,” Wood told Levin.

“Don’t ever do this again. I would think the punitive damage award against CNN that we’ll seek will be at least the same $200 million as it was against The Washington Post. But the compensatory damage to Nicholas’s reputation, that number I expect will be higher,” he added.

Sandmann and Nathan Phillips are at the center of a media firestorm over their interaction at the Lincoln Memorial.

Rachel Frazin contributed to this report.

Tags CNN News Covington Catholic Fox News Nick Sandmann Washington Post