Federal Judge Dismisses Nick Sandmann’s $250 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against Washington Post
Shane Trejo
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Federal Judge William Bertelsman dismissed a lawsuit filed by 16-year-old Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann against the Washington Post for defamation on Friday.
The lawsuit alleged that 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.” The lawsuit claimed the newspaper conducted “a modern-day form of McCarthyism” and “ignored basic journalist standards.”
“They didn’t investigate it. They got it wrong. They published the false narrative and did not publish the truth,” said Lin Wood, an attorney for Sandmann.
Judge Bertelsman, who was appointed to the bench by former President Jimmy Carter, dismissed the case and effectively gave cover to the fake news smear merchants who targeted Sandmann because of his choice of attire before having all the facts of the case.
“He [Indian activist Nathan Phillips] concluded that he was being blocked and not allowed to retreat,” Bertelsman wrote. “He passed these conclusions on to The Post. They may have been erroneous, but, as discussed above, they are opinion protected by the First Amendment.”
The Post is heralding the decision as vindication of the accuracy of their reporting.
“From our first story on this incident to our last, we sought to report fairly and accurately the facts that could be established from available evidence, the perspectives of all of the participants, and the comments of the responsible church and school officials,” The Post said through a spokesperson.
The Sandmann family is not taking this sitting down and plans to appeal the case, believing that justice was not served by the Democrat-appointed Judge Bertelsman in the court of law.
“I believe fighting for justice for my son and family is of vital national importance,” said Nick’s father, Ted Sandmann, in a public statement. “If what was done to Nicholas is not legally actionable, then no one is safe.”
Free speech attorney Robert Barnes notes that this decision does not effect the other defamation cases filed on behalf of Sandmann that are currently active against other media entities, which he believes are stronger cases than this particular one.
Sandmann’s case against the Post brought by Lin Wood was a more difficult case. The Judge concluded the Post never made the accusations against Sandmann that many of the people I will be suing made about the other Covington Boys. The Post case will not stop those suits.
— Robert Barnes (@Barnes_Law) July 26, 2019
Justice may be served for Sandmann at some point, as he continues to fight back after being victimized by the Soviet-esque witch hunt culture pushed by the Left to destroy the reputation of political dissidents.
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