Nick Sandmann’s media lawsuits dismissed by federal judge – Law Officer

On Wednesday, U.S. District Eastern Kentucky Court Judge William Bertelsman on Wednesday threw out five libel lawsuits against the media, filed by Nick Sandmann.

In January 2019, Sandmann was at the center of a viral video that showed him face-to-face with Native American man Nathan Phillips as Phillips banged a drum and sang a traditional song. Sandmann was 16 years old at the time and wore a red “Make America Great Again” cap.

Several mainstream media outlets portrayed the video as racially charged with Sandmann antagonizing Phillips by standing in front of him and smiling. However, additional footage later showed that their confrontation was provoked by a group of Black Hebrew Israelites who hurled racial slurs at him and his fellow students. Phillips was later seen approaching Sandmann as tension rose between the students and the Black Hebrew Israelites according to Fox News. 

While Sandmann filed several lawsuits against media outlets that defamed him at the time, Bertelsman dismissed cases against The New York Times, CBS, ABC, Gannett Co. Inc, and Rolling Stone, claiming that media assertions that Sandmann “blocked” Phillips were protected opinions at the time.

“The media defendants were covering a matter of great public interest, and they reported Phillips’s first-person view of what he experienced. This would put the reader on notice that Phillips was simply giving his perspective on the incident. Therefore, in the factual context of this case, Phillips’ ‘blocking’ statements are protected opinions. This holding moots all other motions before the Court,” Bertelsman wrote.

Sandmann’s attorney Todd McMurty said intends to file an appeal. Sandmann himself was quoted as saying, “We’re fully prepared to argue these cases in the 6th Circuit.”

In the three years since the original video, Sandmann has reached settlements with NBC, CNN and The Washington Post for undisclosed amounts. In 2020, McMurty mentioned that lawsuits against “as many as 13 other defendants will be filed,” including The Guardian, HuffPost, NPR, Slate and The Hill.