Washington Post Settles $250M Defamation Suit Filed by Covington Teen Over Clash With Native American Activists

written by @lysshoekstra

The Washington Post has agreed to settle the $250 million defamation lawsuit filed by Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann, over their coverage of his encounter with a Native American elder at a 2019 anti-abortion rally, in Washington, D.C.

Sandmann announced the news on his 18th birthday via Twitter saying, “On 2/19/19, I filed $250M defamation lawsuit against Washington Post. Today, I turned 18 & WaPo settled my lawsuit.” In a second tweet he wrote, “Thanks to @ToddMcMurtry & @LLinWood for their advocacy. Thanks to my family & millions of you who have stood your ground by supporting me. I still have more to do.”

When news first broke of the incident, the Washington Post, along with a number of other news outlets vilified the teen, who was filmed wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and smiling while he stared down 64-year-old Vietnam War vet and Native American activist, Nathan Phillips; his classmates yelling behind him. The outlets claimed the incident was racially motivated. Phillips accused Sandmann, of blocking his way and refusing to let him pass. Video later surfaced though, that show a different side, the teens lawyers say it was he and his classmates who were harassed.

Due to his faceoff with Phillips, Sandman, only 16 at the time of the incident, was singled out among his classmates and quite literally became public enemy No. 1. The teen has been in an $800 million defamation battle against the Washington Post, CNN, ABC, CBS, The Guardian, The Hill, and NBC. CNN agreed to settle with Sandmann earlier this year, as part of a separate $275 million claim.

It’s unclear how much CNN and the Washington Post settled for.