LEXINGTON, Ky. _ A judge has ruled that Northern Kentucky high school student who drew national attention after an incident involving a Native American in Washington, D.C., does not have legal grounds to sue The Washington Post.
Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann's defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post was dismissed Friday.
Videos that went viral after the incident in January showed Sandmann and Nathan Phillips, a Native American man, standing face to face in close proximity to one another as Phillips beat a drum and sang a traditional song while Sandmann smiled. A group of young men around them laughed and danced.
Sandmann was part of a group of Covington Catholic students who had attended the March for Life that day, while Phillips had attended the Indigenous Peoples March.
"The Court accepts Sandmann's statement that, when he was standing motionless in the confrontation with Phillips, his intent was to calm the situation and not impede or block anyone," U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman wrote in his opinion on the case. "However, Phillips did not see it that way. He concluded that he was being 'blocked' and not allowed to 'retreat.' He passed these conclusions on to The Post. They may have been erroneous, but ... they are opinion protected by the First Amendment. And The Post is not liable for publishing these opinions."
The lawsuit, which sought $250,000 in damages from the newspaper, was filed in February in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky at Covington after Sandmann's family hired prominent Atlanta-based attorney Lin Wood and Kentucky attorney Todd McMurtry to represent him.
"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," Shani George, The Washington Post's director of communications, said in the newspaper's coverage of the lawsuit's dismissal. "We are pleased that the case has been dismissed."
Sandmann's attorneys told The Cincinnati Enquirer that they plan to appeal the ruling.
They have also filed lawsuits on Sandmann's behalf against CNN and NBC. Those suits are still pending in federal court.
