An attorney representing Nick Sandmann, the 16-year-old Covington Catholic High School student who was smeared as a bigot when he was, in fact, the victim, will be suing Nathan Phillips, the Native American activist who lied about his encounter with the teen.
Atlanta-based lawyer L. Lin Wood told LifeSiteNews on Thursday that he would be suing Phillips for his “lies and false accusations” against the Covington Catholic students — and Sandmann in particular. He also told the outlet that he would “file the first round of civil lawsuits within the next two weeks.”
Sandmann’s attorneys previously sent letters to 54 entities — including Democrat politicians, news outlets, and individual reporters — notifying them of a potential lawsuit. That list “continues to grow in number,” Wood told LifeSite, adding that Sandmann’s attorneys are “in the process of sending formal written retraction demands in conformity with statutes in states in which litigation may be filed.”
Wood also released a 15-minute video detailing the lies and smears perpetrated against his client by the media and others.
LifeSite asked Wood why Sandmann and the other Covington Catholic students were still being investigated by the Diocese of Covington.
“We have no idea why the investigation by the Diocese has not been concluded but we are confident that any objective review of the evidence will conclude that Nick did nothing wrong,” Wood responded. “Nick remained calm and well-mannered despite being confronted by an activist beating a drum within inches of his face while chanting loudly. Nick did not utter one word except to quietly urge a classmate to refrain from making any comments that might aggravate the situation created by Phillips and the Black Hebrew Israelites.”
Wood also said that Sandmann was initially barred from returning to school after the encounter, but the school relented after attorneys stepped in.
Phillips’ smear of the Covington Catholic students — and especially Sandmann — is “well documented,” as Wood told Life Site. Phillips initially told The Washington Post that the teenagers surrounded him as he was simply trying to get out of a bad situation and proceed to the Lincoln Memorial. Once video showed that it was Phillips who approached the teenagers — and not the other way around — he changed his story to claim the Covington teens were engaged in a racist back-and-forth with some Black Hebrew Israelites.
Further video showed that it was the Hebrew Israelites who were harassing the teenagers, who then began singing school songs to drown out the harassment. Phillips then walked into the middle of the group and began beating his drum just inches from Sandmann’s face, as the student smiled. Phillips then claimed that he believed there would be violence between the Catholic teens and the Hebrew Israelites and that his idea to defuse the situation was to … walk into a large group of teenagers and beat a drum in one’s face while his fellow activists told the teenagers to “go back to Europe.”
Wood confirmed on Twitter that he would be suing Phillips.
“Nathan Phillips will be sued for his defamatory lies,” Wood said.