<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nick-sandmann">Nick Sandmann</a>, the former Covington Catholic High School student who gained national attention after the mainstream media lied about an interaction that he had with a Native American man in 2019, responded to Twitter CEO Elon Musk releasing internal company documents about how the social media platform was previously engaged in censorship by asking him to look into the threats that were allowed against him on the platform.
Sandmann was the focal point of a media firestorm in January 2019 when he stood in front of Native American activist Nathan Phillips and smiled as he wore a &#8220;Make America Great Again&#8221; hat. Sandmann faced repeated smears and vile attacks in the media over the incident and several news organizations were forced to settle lawsuits with him as a result.
Sandmann highlighted something he posted a couple of years ago that showed a verified accounts on the platform making threats against him and his classmates.
&#8220;As I’m watching this all play out, I’m wondering if @elonmusk has any hidden twitter files relating to what went on here,&#8221; Sandmann said. &#8220;Let’s be clear: under the watch of @vijaya they allowed these illegal threats when I was 16 years old.&#8221;
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As I’m watching this all play out, I’m wondering if <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elonmusk</a> has any hidden twitter files relating to what went on here. Let’s be clear: under the watch of <a href="https://twitter.com/vijaya?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@vijaya</a> they allowed these illegal threats when I was 16 years old. <a href="https://t.co/j2bWEvpGsI">https://t.co/j2bWEvpGsI</a>
&mdash; Nicholas Sandmann (@N1ckSandmann) <a href="https://twitter.com/N1ckSandmann/status/1599296109960011777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;We never sued twitter for the section 230 complications,&#8221; he added. &#8220;That doesn’t mean I’ve given up uncovering the truth of what really went on.&#8221;
<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_medium=editorial&amp;utm_source=dwsite&amp;cid=dwplus&amp;mid=z&amp;xid=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_medium=editorial&amp;utm_source=dwsite&amp;cid=dwplus&amp;mid=z&amp;xid=0" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-11242">TIRED OF THE LEGACY MEDIA&#8217;S BIAS CONTROLLING THE NARRATIVE AND OBSCURING THE TRUTH? JOIN US AND SAVE 30%.</a>
Musk released the information Friday evening through journalist Matt Taibbi. The documents showed that the platform was working in conjunction with then-Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden’s team, removing tweets that team Biden wanted deleted.
Musk said that he decided to release the information because it was “necessary to restore public trust” in the platform after it censored the New York Post’s bombshell report about Hunter Biden’s laptop just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
Musk told the paparazzi that he would no longer sign autographs after he landed in at Dulles International Airport Saturday night, TMZ <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2022/12/04/elon-musk-tells-groveling-paparazzi-no-more-autographs/?adid=social-twa">reported</a>.
“I want to be clear, I’m not doing any more signings ever again,” Musk said as he was surrounded by security guards.
The news comes after Musk said during a chat on Twitter Spaces Saturday afternoon that the risk to his security has increased in recent months.
Musk told listeners that he would “definitely” not “be doing any open-air car parades, let me put it that way,” Musk <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/12/04/elon-musk-claims-risk-of-his-assassination-is-quite-significant/">said</a>. “Frankly the risk of something bad happening to me, or even literally being shot, is quite significant.”
“It’s not that hard to kill somebody if you wanted to, so hopefully they don’t, and fate smiles upon the situation with me and it does not happen,” he added. “There’s definitely some risk there.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-may-have-interfered-in-recent-major-foreign-election-elon-musk-says">Twitter May Have Interfered In Recent Major Foreign Election, Elon Musk Says</a>

Nicholas Sandmann

Nick Sandmann Calls On Musk To Release Documents On Threats Twitter ‘Allowed’ To Be Made Against Him

Big Tech

Covington Catholic High School

Elon Musk

Nick Sandmann

Twitter

U.S.

The legal team representing former Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann, now-20, will file an appeal after they had libel lawsuits against five news organizations thrown out in court this week.
The lawsuits centered around vicious smears that Sandmann faced in the media back in 2019 when a video clip showing him simply standing in front of a Native American man while smiling went viral online.
U.S. District Judge William O. Bertelsman on Tuesday <a href="https://www.wdrb.com/news/judge-tosses-northern-kentucky-students-multimillion-dollar-lawsuits-over-dc-encounter/article_3e79ccdc-0dca-11ed-8131-1b7c593580b5.html">dismissed</a> Sandmann&#8217;s lawsuits against The New York Times, CBS News, ABC News, Gannett, and Rolling Stone magazine.
Sandmann attorney Todd McMurtry told the media that they will file an appeal against the ruling.
While five lawsuits were thrown out, Sandmann has received settlements from The Washington Post, CNN, and NBC News for undisclosed amounts.
&#8220;Obviously, the ruling yesterday was a disappointment for my family and I. I’m appealing the decision in the sixth circuit,&#8221; Sandmann <a href="https://twitter.com/N1ckSandmann/status/1552459124029509632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">said</a> in a statement responding to the ruling this week. &#8220;Judge Bertelsmann revisited the statements that I &#8216;blocked Nathan Phillips&#8217; and &#8216;would not allow him to retreat.’ His job was to rule on the legal issue of what those statements were.&#8221;
&#8220;If they were factual claims, I could proceed and a jury would then decide if they were defamatory. But if they were opinions, it is protected speech that I cannot sue for,&#8221; Sandmann continued. &#8220;The judge ruled that the media companies published opinion. The problem is: it isn’t.&#8221;
Sandmann illustrated his point by noting that stating &#8220;X did Y&#8221; is different than stating &#8220;I believe X is Y.&#8221;
&#8220;I should be able to proceed due to the factual claim the defending media companies made which was used in conjunction with negative connotations of racism and harassment that defamed me,&#8221; Sandmann continued. &#8220;I wrote an op-ed recently in which I mentioned defamation cases being a uphill battle. This is why. There is complete indisputable video evidence along with publications that [published] falsehoods.&#8221;
&#8220;Nevertheless, I have learned how to be patient and keep the will to move forward. I am going to continue on that path,&#8221; he concluded.

sandmann

Nick Sandmann Responds After Judge Tosses Lawsuits Against 5 Media Companies

Court

Lawsuit

Legacy Media

In January 2019, Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann became an overnight infamous household name after a video of his interaction with Native American activist Nathan Phillips went viral.
“On Saturday, a video went viral, seemingly showing a group of Catholic high school students confronting and harassing a Native American protester who appeared to be peacefully playing a drum, but by Saturday night it was clear the confrontation wasn’t the end of the story,” the Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-you-need-know-about-confrontation-emily-zanotti">reported</a> at the time. 
“The three-minute video was posted online by a group of Native American protesters who claimed they were harassed and intimidated by a group of Covington Catholic High School students waiting for their bus near the Lincoln Memorial. The video is heavily clipped at the beginning and end, and shows only an apparent ‘confrontation’ between a protester named Nathan Phillips and a Make America Great Again-hat wearing teen.”
Despite it becoming clear that the Covington High School students were actually the victims of racial slurs, with a group of Black Hebrew Israelites calling the students “fa***ts,” with Phillips apparently lying about the so-called “confrontation,” the legacy media rallied to portray the students — and Nick Sandmann in particular — as guilty of a hate crime.
On CNN’s website, Nick Sandmann is mentioned in 30 articles, including the presumptive headline “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/21/opinions/march-for-life-maga-hat-teens-native-american-protest-morson/index.html">March For Life teen’s confrontation with Native American reveals an ugly divide</a>.” 
The Washington Post mentioned Nick Sandmann <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=nick%20sandmann&amp;btn-search=&amp;sort=Relevance&amp;datefilter=All%20Since%202005">52 times</a>, and the New York Times mentioned him <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/search?query=nick+sandmann">11 times</a> since early 2019. Covington Catholic High School is referenced <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=covington%20catholic%20high%20school&amp;btn-search=&amp;sort=Relevance&amp;datefilter=All%20Since%202005">92 times</a> by the Washington Post, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/search?dropmab=true&amp;query=Covington%20Catholic%20High%20School&amp;sort=best&amp;suggestTrigger=covington%20">169 times</a> by the New York Times.
At the time, prominent figures on the Left also came out in vocal condemnation of Nick Sandmann, such as an SNL comedian <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/snl-writer-offers-blowjobs-anyone-who-will-punch-paul-bois">saying</a> “I will blow whoever manages to punch that maga kid in the face,” Alyssa Milano <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alyssa-milano-weighs-covington-catholic-story-james-barrett">concluding</a> that “The red MAGA hat is the new white hood,” and Reza Aslan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/haworth-i-have-dream-or-punchable-face-you-cant-ian-haworth">saying</a> that Sandmann had a “punchable face.”
Conversely, in the same city in March 2021, a 66-year-old Uber Eats driver was killed after being thrown from his vehicle after two teenage girls — aged 13 and 15 — reportedly used a stun gun against him and stole his car. The incident was also caught on video, showing Anwar’s crumpled body on the sidewalk, as the two teenage girls appeared to show more concern for their phones than the man left dead on the street.
Nick Sandmann was not guilty of any crime, while these two teenage girls — whose names have not been released — appear to have murdered an innocent man after assaulting him and stealing his car. Surely, in terms of objective reporting, Mohammad Anwar’s murder deserves far more scrutiny and coverage?
However, a search for “Mohammad Anwar” on CNN yields one result, relating to an article that was shared on<a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth/status/1375950442845310981"> Twitter</a> as “Police said the girls, 13 and 15, assaulted an Uber Eats driver with a Taser while carjacking him, which led to an accident in which he was fatally injured.” Similarly, the Washington Post provides <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=mohammad%20anwar&amp;btn-search=&amp;sort=Relevance&amp;datefilter=All%20Since%202005">one article</a> dedicated to the incident, reporting “Girls, 13 and 15, charged with murder after alleged carjacking in D.C.” The New York Times has made<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/search?query=mohammad+anwar"> no mention</a> of Anwar, according to their website.
Thanks to the media, the death of Mohammad Anwar will remain hidden from the majority of the country. There won’t be any marches for him, no furious protests, and no concerned phone calls from Joe Biden or Kamala Harris.
The same celebrities who jostled to condemn Nick Sandmann for the crime of standing still are now as silent as the disinterested media who — without a racially convenient perpetrator — have immediately moved on.
All that matters to the media is whether they can use the skin color of victims and/or alleged perpetrators to promote the narrative of systemic and unrepentant white supremacy.
For them, Mohammad Anwar’s alleged killers don’t fit the bill, and so he has been immediately forgotten.
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth">@ighaworth</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The Media Made Nick Sandmann A Villian For Standing Still, But Couldn’t Care Less About Mohammad Anwar. We All Know Why

Media Bias

Readers Pass

Washington D.C.

The attorney representing former Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann in his defamation lawsuits against media organizations that smeared him last year announced on Thursday that four news organizations filed motions to dismiss the lawsuits and that all four requests were denied.
Attorney Lin Wood wrote on Twitter: &#8220;Motions to Dismiss @N1ckSandmann defamation lawsuits filed in KY federal court against NY Times, Rolling Stone, ABC, &amp; CBS were just DENIED. NBC motion has previously been DENIED. Gannett motion was briefed on different time schedule &amp; a DENIAL is expected in next few weeks.&#8221;
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Motions to Dismiss <a href="https://twitter.com/N1ckSandmann?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@N1ckSandmann</a> defamation lawsuits filed in KY federal court against NY Times, Rolling Stone, ABC, &amp; CBS were just DENIED. 
NBC motion has previously been DENIED.
Gannett motion was briefed on different time schedule &amp; a DENIAL is expected in next few weeks.
&mdash; Lin Wood (@LLinWood) <a href="https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1311771933298561024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Sandmann echoed the news on Twitter, writing: &#8220;Motions to Dismiss defamation lawsuits against NY Times, Rolling Stone, ABC, &amp; CBS were just DENIED.&#8221;
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Motions to Dismiss defamation lawsuits against NY Times, Rolling Stone, ABC, &amp; CBS were just DENIED.
&mdash; Nicholas Sandmann (@N1ckSandmann) <a href="https://twitter.com/N1ckSandmann/status/1311781297795354624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The lawsuits center around false media reports regarding an interaction that Sandmann had with Omaha tribe elder Nathan Phillips that falsely portrayed Sandmann as an aggressor.
Sandmann has already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covington-catholic-hs-student-nick-sandmann-settles-250-million-lawsuit-with-the-washington-post">settled</a> a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Washington and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-covington-catholic-student-nick-sandmann-gets-settlement-from-cnn-after-275-million-lawsuit">settled</a> a $275 million defamation lawsuit against CNN.
Sandmann spoke out against cancel culture while speaking at the Republican National Convention in August.
“I found myself face-to-face with Nathan Phillips and other professional protesters looking to turn me into the latest poster child showing why Trump is bad,” Sandmann <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nick-sandmann-returns-to-spot-of-viral-encounter-during-rnc-convention-this-is-worth-fighting-for">said</a>. “While the media portrayed me as the aggressor with a ‘relentless smirk’ on my face, in reality the video confirms I was standing with my hands behind my back and an awkward smile on my face that hid two thoughts. One, don’t do anything that might further agitate the man banging a drum in my face and two, trying to follow a family friend’s advice never to do anything to embarrass your family, your school, or your community.”
“Before I knew what was happening, it was over,” he continued. “One of Mr. Phillips fellow agitators yelled out ‘We got him!’, ‘It’s all right here on video’ and ‘We won Grandpa.’ What I thought was a strange encounter quickly developed into a major news story complete with video footage.”
“My life changed forever in that one moment,” Sandmann continued. “The full war machine of the mainstream media revved up into attack mode. They did so without ever researching the full video of the incident; without ever investigating Mr. Philips’ motives; or without ever asking me for my side of the story. And do you know why? Because the truth wasn’t important. Advancing their anti-Christian, anti-Conservative, anti-Donald Trump narrative was all that mattered. And if advancing their narrative ruined the reputation and future of a teenager from Covington, Kentucky…so be it. That will teach him not to wear a MAGA hat!”
“I learned that what was happening to me had a name. It was called being cancelled. As in annulled. As in revoked. As in made void,” he continued. “Cancelled is what’s happening to people around this country who refuse to be silenced by the far left. Many are being fired, humiliated or even threatened. Often, the media is a willing participant.”
“But I wouldn’t be cancelled. I fought back hard to expose the media for what they did to me and won a personal victory. While much more must be done, I look forward to the day that the media returns to providing balanced, responsible and accountable news coverage,” Sandmann continued. “In November, I believe this country must unite around a President who calls the media out and refuses to allow them to create a narrative instead of reporting the facts.”
This story has been updated to include additional information.

Virtual Speakers On Day Two Of Republican National Convention

4 News Orgs File Motion To Toss Lawsuits From Nick Sandmann. They Were All Denied, Lawyer Says.

Defamation

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Former Covington Catholic High School student <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covington-catholic-hs-student-nick-sandmann-settles-250-million-lawsuit-with-the-washington-post">Nicholas Sandmann</a> is slated to speak at the 2020 Republican National Convention (RNC), which the teenager claimed has angered Democrats.
Sandmann, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flashback-heres-how-left-treated-16-year-old-nick-amanda-prestigiacomo">viciously smeared</a> as a bigot and a bully by the mainstream media in January 2019 for out-of-context video clips, argued that the Left&#8217;s anger stems from the teen&#8217;s chance to finally &#8220;testify about the media&#8221; to the public.
&#8220;The left is mad I decided to speak because it’ll be the first time I testify about the media,&#8221; the teen posted to social media on Wednesday afternoon.
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The left is mad I decided to speak because it’ll be the first time I testify about the media.
&mdash; Nicholas Sandmann (@N1ckSandmann) <a href="https://twitter.com/N1ckSandmann/status/1296170198320414721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Eric Trump replied to Sandmann in support: &#8220;Go get them! We are proud of you!!!&#8221;
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Go get them! We are proud of you!!!
&mdash; Eric Trump (@EricTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricTrump/status/1296193249670041600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The Trump campaign and RNC officials <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/08/17/exclusive-gop-convention-speakers-to-include-nick-sandmann-gov-kristi-noem/">confirmed</a> to Breitbart News on Monday that Sandmann will be speaking at the convention.
In January 2019, the media smeared Sandmann and some of his classmates over misleading video footage that went viral online concerning Covington students interacting with activists in Washington, D.C. The mainstream media framed out-of-context clips in a way that painted Sandmann and the other teen boys as aggressors and harassers. In reality, the full context showed the boys as the ones being confronted and harassed.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nick-sandmann-returns-to-march-for-life-one-year-after-media-smear-him-i-will-never-pass-on-an-opportunity-to-march-for-life">The Daily Wire</a> recapped the incident and aftermath as follows:
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<blockquote>Following the 2019 March for Life, Sandmann and his classmates were harassed and called racially-charged names by Black Hebrew Israelite activists while waiting for their bus back to Kentucky. Native American activist Nathan Phillips then confronted Sandmann, who tried to deescalate the situation. In an out-of-context clip that quickly went viral, however, the media claimed it was Sandmann who was harassing Phillips.
“Rather than being the harassers, the boys were harassed by radical racial activist group Black Hebrew Israelites, which has been designated a ‘<a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/01/21/black-hebrew-israelites-believe-african-americans-gods-chosen-people/2636154002/">hate group</a>‘ by the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center, who hurled racist and homophobic insults at the students,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-heres-nbcs-interview-covington-catholics-james-barrett">The Daily Wire</a> reported last January. “After hysterical critics called for the doxxing of the boys, some even encouraging violence against them, Sandmann issued a lengthy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/42423/read-it-teen-center-covington-catholic-hs-amanda-prestigiacomo">account of the incident</a> that aligns far more with the full video footage than Phillips’ widely reported account.”</blockquote>
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Following the incident, Sandmann took legal action against legacy media giants over their participation in smearing him.
As reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covington-catholic-hs-student-nick-sandmann-settles-250-million-lawsuit-with-the-washington-post">The Daily Wire</a> last month, Sandmann settled his $250 million defamation lawsuit with The Washington Post.
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On 2/19/19, I filed $250M defamation lawsuit against Washington Post. Today, I turned 18 &amp; WaPo settled my lawsuit. Thanks to @ToddMcMurtry &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/LLinWood?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LLinWood</a> for their advocacy. Thanks to my family &amp; millions of you who have stood your ground by supporting me. I still have more to do.
&mdash; Nicholas Sandmann (@N1ckSandmann) <a href="https://twitter.com/N1ckSandmann/status/1286675866408431616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Additionally, CNN <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covington-catholic-hs-student-nick-sandmann-settles-250-million-lawsuit-with-the-washington-post">settled</a> a $275 million lawsuit from Sandmann back in January.
However, the stigma created by the media giants remains.
Earlier this year, journalist <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/nick-sandmann-covington-lincoln-memorial-media">Lara Logan</a> returned with Sandmann to the Lincoln Memorial, where the interaction with Phillips took place.
&#8220;As we stood there, people began to stare at Nick and it became uncomfortable,&#8221; Logan reported. &#8220;He was mindful of the death threats and bomb threats against him, his home and [his attorney Todd McMurtry]. So we decided to leave. The long looks followed us on the way.&#8221;
&#8220;Does that happen all the time?&#8221; the former &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; journalist asked Sandmann.
&#8220;It happens everywhere I go,&#8221; the teen responded. &#8220;From in my community to different parts of the country. Everywhere I go, there is someone that will point me out.&#8221;

Covington Catholic

‘Covington Kid’ Nick Sandmann: Here’s Why The Left Is ‘Mad’ I’m Speaking At RNC

Republican National Convention

Almost a year and a half after the fateful day that launched him to national stardom, Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann opened up about the constant threat and fear he has lived under ever since the media plastered his face all across the news, smearing him as a racist Trump supporter.
Fox Nation host Lara Logan thoroughly explored the Covington Catholic High School controversy in her series, <a href="https://nation.foxnews.com/lara-logan-has-no-agenda/?cmpid=org=NAT::ag=owned::mc=referral::src=FNC_web::cmp=article::add=LaraLoganMediaBias_FNC_SeriesDetail&amp;utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=FNC_web&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_content=LaraLoganMediaBias_FNC_SeriesDetail" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&#8220;Lara Logan Has No Agenda,&#8221; </a>during which she brought Sandmann back to the Lincoln Memorial where it all started.
&#8220;As we stood there, people began to stare at Nick and it became uncomfortable,&#8221; narrated Logan, as reported by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/nick-sandmann-covington-lincoln-memorial-media">Fox News</a>. &#8220;He was mindful of the death threats and bomb threats against him, his home and [his attorney Todd McMurtry]. So we decided to leave. The long looks followed us on the way.&#8221;
&#8220;Does that happen all the time?&#8221; Logan asked Sandmann at the Lincoln Memorial.
&#8220;It happens everywhere I go,&#8221; he responded. &#8220;From in my community to different parts of the country. Everywhere I go, there is someone that will point me out.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s going to be that way for how long?&#8221; pressed Logan.
&#8220;Probably forever,&#8221; he replied, &#8220;It&#8217;s a constant threat and it&#8217;s a terrible threat. But you can&#8217;t choose to live your life in fear or they&#8217;ve won and they robbed you of your life.&#8221;
Sandmann was thrust into the national spotlight in 2019 when mainstream news outlets like the Washington Post and CNN reported that he and several of his fellow students harassed Native American man Nathan Phillips while attending the D.C. March for Life. Phillips told media outlets that the “Make America Great Again” hat-wearing boys blocked his path and taunted him with racial slurs &#8212; a story that appeared somewhat credible at first when viral video showed them surrounding Phillips, cheering as he banged a drum into Sandmann’s smirking face.
However, the narrative took a dramatic turn when other videos sufaced showing that it was Phillips who approached the boys. New video also revealed that the boys were the ones being taunted with racial slurs at the time by an extremist group known as the Black Hebrew Israelites.
Without fully investigating the matter, news outlets largely ran with Phillips’ account of what happened, smearing the boys as racists. Sandmann arguably bore the brunt of the smears as his face being featured so prominently in the initial, shortened video.
Media figures like CNN contributor Reza Aslan lashed out at Sandman; Aslan <a href="https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2019/01/20/reza-aslan-who-cried-at-the-gillette-commercial-thinks-covington-catholic-hs-student-has-a-punchable-face/">suggested</a> he’d like to punch the 16-year-old in the face. “Honest question. Have you ever seen a more punchable face than this kid’s?” Aslan tweeted at the time. Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” producer Jack Morrissey <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/42518/disney-producer-apologizes-wishing-covington-boys-paul-bois">said</a> he wanted to throw the children into a woodchipper “Fargo”-style.” “#MAGAkids go screaming, hats first, into the woodchipper,” Morrissey tweeted.
Comedian Sarah Beattie, a former contributor to “Saturday Night Live,” went so far as to offer free sexual favors to anyone that would punch a Covington boy. “I will blow whoever manages to punch that maga kid in the face,” she said in the now-deleted tweet.
In response, Sandmann’s family sued several news outlets for defamation, targeting The Washington Post first for $250 million and accusing the outlet of “using its vast financial resources to enter the bully pulpit by publishing a series of false and defamatory print and online articles … to smear a young boy who was in its view an acceptable casualty in their war against the president.”
Sandmann had his first major legal victory this past January when CNN settled for an undisclosed amount. Lawsuits against other media outlets, including The Washington Post and The New York Times, are still pending.

sandmann (1)

Covington Student Nick Sandmann: I Live Under ‘Constant Threat And It’s A Terrible Threat’

On Tuesday, news reports broke that CNN shelled out a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-covington-catholic-student-nick-sandmann-gets-settlement-from-cnn-after-275-million-lawsuit?itm_source=parsely-api">settlement</a> to Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann after the teen filed a $275 million suit against the network for smearing him last year.
On Wednesday, Fox News co-host Juan Williams speculated that CNN settled with Sandmann to avoid &#8220;discovery,&#8221; where the network&#8217;s internal communications and emails would become public.
&#8220;I think a lot of people who don&#8217;t like CNN are quick to rush and say, &#8216;Oh this means CNN admitted that they did wrong.&#8217; I think — I know lawyers — the lawyers are like, &#8216;Oh, if we have to go through discovery then that means emails and discussions are gonna be revealed. We may not want that out,'&#8221; Williams <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/shows/the-five">explained</a>.
Shannon Bream, fill-in host for &#8220;The Five&#8221; on Wednesday, piggybacked off Williams&#8217; explanation.
&#8220;Juan, like you said, when you go into discovery — I used to have clients who you talk to them and say, &#8216;Listen, this is how much it&#8217;s gonna cost you to go to trial, this is what they want in settlement, what do you wanna do?&#8217; And some people would say yeah, we don&#8217;t want all that stuff out there, we&#8217;ll pay,&#8221; Bream explained.
&#8220;I&#8217;d have other clients who would say, we will not pay a dime because what we&#8217;re worried about is if we pay this person, the next one is gonna want it and the next one and the next one,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;So, CNN had to make a lot of calculations here just beyond the legal issues.&#8221;
The details of the CNN settlement with Sandmann have remained undisclosed.
Sandmann and other teens from Covington Catholic were smeared by multiple news outlets after an out-of-context video clip of a “standoff” between the teens and a Native American activist Nathan Phillips went viral last year. However, further video footage debunked the media&#8217;s narrative that Sandmann and company were &#8220;blocking&#8221; and &#8220;harassing&#8221; Phillips. Instead, it was shown that the teens were victims of harassment themselves and Sandmann was trying to deescalate the confrontation after Phillips approached the teens.
As noted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-covington-catholic-student-nick-sandmann-gets-settlement-from-cnn-after-275-million-lawsuit?itm_source=parsely-api">The Daily Wire</a> on Tuesday, the teen has also filed suits against The Washington Post and NBC Universal for $250 million or more each and is reportedly seeking to “sue Gannett, owners of The Enquirer.”
“CNN was probably more vicious in its direct attacks on Nicholas than The Washington Post. And CNN goes into millions of individuals’ homes,” Sandmann attorney Lin Wood <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-cnn-be-sued-250-million-over-vicious-ryan-saavedra">told</a> Fox News last year. “CNN couldn’t resist the idea that here’s a guy with a young boy, with that Make America Great Again cap on. So they go after him.”
“They really went after Nicholas with the idea that he was part of a mob that was attacking the Black Hebrew Israelites, yelling racist slurs at the Black Hebrew Israelites. Totally false,” the famous attorney explained. “Now you say you’ve seen the tape; if you took the time to look at the full context of what happened that day, Nicholas Sandmann did absolutely nothing wrong. He was, as I’ve said to others, he was the only adult in the room.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-covington-catholic-student-nick-sandmann-gets-settlement-from-cnn-after-275-million-lawsuit?itm_source=parsely-api">Covington Catholic Student Nick Sandmann Gets Settlement From CNN After $275 Million Lawsuit</a>

Juan Williams

Juan Williams Explains Why CNN Likely Settled Covington Suit

CNN confirmed Tuesday that it has settled for an undisclosed amount with Nick Sandmann, one of the Covington Catholic High School students smeared by multiple news outlets after a video of a &#8220;standoff&#8221; between the teens and a Native American activist went viral. Following initial reports on the settlement, Sandmann&#8217;s lawyers have each issued brief public statements making clear their work on the young man&#8217;s behalf isn&#8217;t done.
After multiple news outlets and media figures smeared him and his peers for allegedly &#8220;blocking&#8221; and &#8220;harassing&#8221; a Native American activist Nathan Phillips, whose account of the confrontation was quickly discredited by additional footage of the situation, Sandmann sued CNN, The Washington Post, and NBC Universal for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Sandmann, who is represented by high-powered attorneys Todd McMurtry and Lin Wood, was seeking $275 million from CNN. Fox 19 <a href="https://www.fox19.com/2020/01/07/cnn-settles-lawsuit-with-nick-sandmann/">reported</a> that CNN agreed Tuesday to settle the lawsuit against Sandmann. &#8220;The amount of the settlement was not made public during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Covington,&#8221; Fox reported.
On Tuesday, the <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/crime/crime-and-courts/2020/01/07/cnn-confirms-settlement-has-been-reached-nick-sandmann/2835761001/">Cincinnati Enquirer</a> reported that CNN had confirmed that they had indeed reached a settlement with Sandmann. &#8220;A CNN spokesperson confirmed Tuesday with The Enquirer that a settlement was reached,&#8221; the outlet reported. &#8220;The network would not comment on the details of the settlement.&#8221;
Sandmann&#8217;s lawyers have issued statements following reports on the settlement, and both made a point of stressing that they are far from done in seeking justice for their client.
&#8220;I want to thank everyone for the many good wishes received today,&#8221; McMurtry <a href="https://twitter.com/ToddMcMurtry/status/1214665513084837889">tweeted</a> Tuesday. &#8220;Now, [Lin Wood] and I turn our attention to [NBC News], [The Washington Post] and additional defendants to be named soon.&#8221;
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&#8220;Long day up &amp; back to KY for 26(f) conference with Court,&#8221; Wood <a href="https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1214759372255059971">tweeted</a> Tuesday after retweeting his partner&#8217;s statement. [Todd McMurtry] &amp; I have more to do in pursuit of truth &amp; justice for Nicholas Sandmann, a fine young man. We will do it. Thanks for kind &amp; supportive comments. Tired, but pursuit of truth &amp; justice feels really good today.&#8221;
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https://twitter.com/ToddMcMurtry/status/1214665513084837889
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-covington-catholic-student-nick-sandmann-gets-settlement-from-cnn-after-275-million-lawsuit">The Daily Wire</a> reported, in an interview with Fox News last year, Wood pointed to CNN as having launched the most &#8220;vicious&#8221; and unfair series of attacks on Sandmann.
&#8220;CNN was probably more vicious in its direct attacks on Nicholas than The Washington Post. And CNN goes into millions of individuals’ homes,&#8221; Wood <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-cnn-be-sued-250-million-over-vicious-ryan-saavedra">told</a> Fox News’ Mark Levin. &#8220;CNN couldn’t resist the idea that here’s a guy with a young boy, with that Make America Great Again cap on. So they go after him.&#8221;
&#8220;They really went after Nicholas with the idea that he was part of a mob that was attacking the Black Hebrew Israelites, yelling racist slurs at the Black Hebrew Israelites. Totally false,&#8221; Wood continued. &#8220;Now you say you’ve seen the tape; if you took the time to look at the full context of what happened that day, Nicholas Sandmann did absolutely nothing wrong. He was, as I’ve said to others, he was the only adult in the room.&#8221;
In February 2019, Sandmann’s lawyers released the following <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nick-sandmanns-lawyer-sends-letters-these-54-ryan-saavedra">list</a> of 54 individuals and news organizations to which they sent letters instructing them to preserve evidence for potential defamation lawsuits:
<ol>
<li>The Washington Post</li>
<li>The New York Times</li>
<li>Cable News Network, Inc. (CNN)</li>
<li>The Guardian</li>
<li>National Public Radio</li>
<li>TMZ</li>
<li>Atlantic Media Inc.</li>
<li>Capitol Hill Publishing Corp.</li>
<li>Diocese of Covington</li>
<li>Diocese of Lexington</li>
<li>Archdiocese of Louisville</li>
<li>Diocese of Baltimore</li>
<li>Ana Cabrera (CNN)</li>
<li>Sara Sidner (CNN)</li>
<li>Erin Burnett (CNN)</li>
<li>S.E. Cupp (CNN)</li>
<li>Elliot C. McLaughlin (CNN)</li>
<li>Amanda Watts (CNN)</li>
<li>Emanuella Grinberg (CNN)</li>
<li>Michelle Boorstein (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Cleve R. Wootson Jr. (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Antonio Olivo (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Joe Heim (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Michael E. Miller (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Eli Rosenberg (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Isaac Stanley-Becker (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Kristine Phillips (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Sarah Mervosh (New York Times)</li>
<li>Emily S. Rueb (New York Times)</li>
<li>Maggie Haberman (New York Times)</li>
<li>David Brooks (New York Times)</li>
<li>Shannon Doyne</li>
<li>Kurt Eichenwald</li>
<li>Andrea Mitchell (NBC/MSNBC)</li>
<li>Savannah Guthrie (NBC)</li>
<li>Joy Reid (MSNBC)</li>
<li>Chuck Todd (NBC)</li>
<li>Noah Berlatsky</li>
<li>Elisha Fieldstadt (NBC)</li>
<li>Eun Kyung Kim</li>
<li>HBO</li>
<li>Bill Maher</li>
<li>Warner Media</li>
<li>Conde Nast</li>
<li>GQ</li>
<li>Heavy.com</li>
<li>The Hill</li>
<li>The Atlantic</li>
<li>Bustle.com</li>
<li>Ilhan Omar</li>
<li>Elizabeth Warren</li>
<li>Kathy Griffin</li>
<li>Alyssa Milano</li>
<li>Jim Carrey</li>
</ol>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leftists-enraged-over-nick-sandmann-defeating-cnn-conservatives-celebrate">Leftists Enraged Over Nick Sandmann Defeating CNN. Conservatives Celebrate.</a>
&nbsp;

Nick Sandmann’s Lawyers Respond To CNN Settling After $275 Million Lawsuit; CNN Confirms Settlement

After CNN reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-covington-catholic-student-nick-sandmann-gets-settlement-from-cnn-after-275-million-lawsuit">settled for an undisclosed amount</a> in the defamation lawsuit from Covington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann, leftists on Twitter have expressed outrage, using the moment to bash Trump supporters and Nicholas Sandmann alike.
&#8220;The same Trump cultists celebrating Nick Sandmann’s victory against the corporate media outlets who smeared him with false accusations from social media mob bullying that generated fake clickbait news articles are strangely silent about all the liberals they falsely accused too,&#8221; tweeted Dr. Eugene Gu. 
&#8220;The same people who promote the QAnon conspiracy theory, which the FBI says is now a domestic terror threat, the Obama Birther conspiracy, the &#8216;Replacement Theory&#8217; don&#8217;t have much high ground to gloat about the Nick Sandmann settlement but when you are without shame&#8230;&#8221; tweeted CNN contributor Wajahat &#8220;Abu Khadija&#8221; Ali. &#8220;Nick Sandmann: future Republican congressman,&#8221; he continued.
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The same Trump cultists celebrating Nick Sandmann’s victory against the corporate media outlets who smeared him with false accusations from social media mob bullying that generated fake clickbait news articles are strangely silent about all the liberals they falsely accused too.
&mdash; Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) <a href="https://twitter.com/eugenegu/status/1214665525285908480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The same people who promote the QAnon conspiracy theory, which the FBI says is now a domestic terror threat, the Obama Birther conspiracy, the &quot;Replacement Theory&quot; don&#39;t have much high ground to gloat about the Nick Sandmann settlement but when you are without shame&#8230;
&mdash; Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) <a href="https://twitter.com/WajahatAli/status/1214670577241337857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Nick Sandmann: future Republican Congressman.
&mdash; Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) <a href="https://twitter.com/WajahatAli/status/1214670146331193344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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One Twitter user <a href="https://twitter.com/r2kmoon2/status/1214670827452542976?s=20">even referred</a> to Nick Sandmann, a minor, as a &#8220;cockroach&#8221; that CNN dealt with: &#8220;Conservative news outlets and reporters are eating up this Nick Sandmann settlement like it&#8217;s a big win. CNN shrugged their shoulders and said &#8216;Let the little cockroach have this money. We&#8217;re good for it.'&#8221;
&#8220;In the Trump era, you can profit off publicly ridiculing Native Americas like Nick Sandmann or start your own clothing line after killing a child like Eddie Gallagher. Or murder journalists like Mohammad bin Salman &amp; you will have the full support of the POTUS. #TrumpIsADisgrace,&#8221; tweeted Twitter user &#8220;Bleeding Heart Liberal Marine.&#8221;
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In the Trump era, you can profit off publicly ridiculing Native Americas like Nick Sandmann or start your own clothing line after killing a child like Eddie Gallagher. Or murder journalists like Mohammad bin Salman &amp; you will have the full support of the POTUS. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TrumpIsADisgrace?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TrumpIsADisgrace</a>
&mdash; Bleeding Heart Liberal Marine (@BleedingMarine) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleedingMarine/status/1214656771232415744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Conservatives on Twitter have been roundly celebrating the news, calling it a triumph of justice.
&#8220;This is the greatest news story of the year so far. Suleimani ain&#8217;t got nothin&#8217; on this,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/1214660298440732672?s=20">tweeted</a> The Daily Wire&#8217;s Michael Knowles.
&#8220;Congrats to [CNN] for finally getting at least some of what they deserve for being the enemy of the people,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/yesnicksearcy/status/1214671197880717312?s=20">tweeted</a> actor Nick Searcy.
&#8220;Major victory against fake news,&#8221; tweeted Tim Pool.
&#8220;JUSTICE: CNN has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against them by Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann They brutally smeared him &amp; tried to destroy his life Will the Media cover this admission of guilt as extensively as they covered the lies about Sandmann?&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1214637829768146944?s=20">tweeted</a> TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk. 
&#8220;Revenge is a dish best served cold,&#8221; tweeted Sebastian Gorka.
Sandmann was thrust into the national spotlight earlier in 2019 when mainstream news outlets like The Washington Post and CNN reported that he and several of his fellow students harassed a Native American man named Nathan Phillips while attending the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Phillips testified that the “Make America Great Again” hat-wearing boys blocked his path and taunted him with racial slurs, which appeared somewhat credible at first when viral video revealed the boys standing around Phillips, cheering as he banged a drum in front of Sandmann’s face. However, the narrative took a dramatic turn when other videos showed that Phillips approached the boys, who were at the time being taunted with racial slurs by the fringe black nationalist group Black Hebrew Israelites.
Without fully investigating the matter, news outlets largely ran with Phillips’ account of what happened, smearing the boys as racists. Sandmann arguably bore the brunt of the smears due to his face being featured so prominently in the video. In fact, media figures, such as CNN contributor Reza Aslan, <a href="https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2019/01/20/reza-aslan-who-cried-at-the-gillette-commercial-thinks-covington-catholic-hs-student-has-a-punchable-face/">suggested</a> he’d like to punch the 16-year-old in the face. “Honest question. Have you ever seen a more punchable face than this kid’s?” Aslan tweeted at the time.
In response, Sandmann’s family sued several news outlets for defamation, targeting The Washington Post first for $250 million and accusing the outlet of “using its vast financial resources to enter the bully pulpit by publishing a series of false and defamatory print and online articles … to smear a young boy who was in its view an acceptable casualty in their war against the president.”

CNN World Headquarters

Leftists Enraged Over Nick Sandmann Defeating CNN. Conservatives Celebrate.

Leftism

Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann has reportedly received a settlement from CNN after suing the left-wing network for smearing him last year.
&#8220;CNN agreed Tuesday to settle a lawsuit with Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann,&#8221; Fox 19 <a href="https://www.fox19.com/2020/01/07/cnn-settles-lawsuit-with-nick-sandmann/">reported</a>. &#8220;The amount of the settlement was not made public during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Covington.&#8221;
Sandmann also filed lawsuits against The Washington Post and NBC Universal, each for $250 million or more, and is reportedly planning to &#8220;sue Gannett, owners of The Enquirer.&#8221;
Sandmann&#8217;s attorneys, Todd McMurtry and Lin Wood, filed a $275 million lawsuit against CNN in March of last year in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
“CNN was probably more vicious in its direct attacks on Nicholas than The Washington Post. And CNN goes into millions of individuals’ homes,” Wood <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-cnn-be-sued-250-million-over-vicious-ryan-saavedra">told</a> Fox News’ Mark Levin last year. “CNN couldn’t resist the idea that here’s a guy with a young boy, with that Make America Great Again cap on. So they go after him.”
“They really went after Nicholas with the idea that he was part of a mob that was attacking the Black Hebrew Israelites, yelling racist slurs at the Black Hebrew Israelites. Totally false,” Wood continued. “Now you say you’ve seen the tape; if you took the time to look at the full context of what happened that day, Nicholas Sandmann did absolutely nothing wrong. He was, as I’ve said to others, he was the only adult in the room.”
In an interview on Fox News last year, McMurtry <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-nick-sandmanns-lawyer-reveals-massive-275-ryan-saavedra">told</a> anchor Sandra Smith, “Well, what CNN’s tagline is is &#8216;facts first.&#8217; And what we believe their reporting was in this circumstance was lies first, cover up second, and facts not yet determined by that organization. So the difference between this lawsuit and the other lawsuit that we have filed is that CNN is a very significant media organization with a much broader reach than, say, the Washington Post. It has Twitter followers of 41 million people. It published four videos. Nine online articles that were tweeted out. So that’s millions and millions and millions of repetitions of the lies and falsehoods that CNN spread.”
“Well, we’ve talked about the impact on Nicholas Sandmann a number of times and it — it is significant,” McMurtry continued. “Nicholas Sandmann was a 16-year-old man who had a perfect reputation. He was loved by his parents, respected at his school, and had many good friends at Covington Catholic High School. So he was a person that was doing very well in life, and due to his strong character, he still is. But nevertheless, his character has now been determined by the lies issued by CNN. So the facts were not first, the lies were.”
In early February, Sandmann’s lawyers released a list of 54 individuals and news organizations that they sent letters to instructing them to preserve evidence for potential lawsuits. The list <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/42988/nick-sandmanns-lawyer-sends-letters-these-54-ryan-saavedra">includes</a>:
<ol>
<li>The Washington Post</li>
<li>The New York Times</li>
<li>Cable News Network, Inc. (CNN)</li>
<li>The Guardian</li>
<li>National Public Radio</li>
<li>TMZ</li>
<li>Atlantic Media Inc.</li>
<li>Capitol Hill Publishing Corp.</li>
<li>Diocese of Covington</li>
<li>Diocese of Lexington</li>
<li>Archdiocese of Louisville</li>
<li>Diocese of Baltimore</li>
<li>Ana Cabrera (CNN)</li>
<li>Sara Sidner (CNN)</li>
<li>Erin Burnett (CNN)</li>
<li>S.E. Cupp (CNN)</li>
<li>Elliot C. McLaughlin (CNN)</li>
<li>Amanda Watts (CNN)</li>
<li>Emanuella Grinberg (CNN)</li>
<li>Michelle Boorstein (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Cleve R. Wootson Jr. (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Antonio Olivo (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Joe Heim (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Michael E. Miller (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Eli Rosenberg (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Isaac Stanley-Becker (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Kristine Phillips (Washington Post)</li>
<li>Sarah Mervosh (New York Times)</li>
<li>Emily S. Rueb (New York Times)</li>
<li>Maggie Haberman (New York Times)</li>
<li>David Brooks (New York Times)</li>
<li>Shannon Doyne</li>
<li>Kurt Eichenwald</li>
<li>Andrea Mitchell (NBC/MSNBC)</li>
<li>Savannah Guthrie (NBC)</li>
<li>Joy Reid (MSNBC)</li>
<li>Chuck Todd (NBC)</li>
<li>Noah Berlatsky</li>
<li>Elisha Fieldstadt (NBC)</li>
<li>Eun Kyung Kim</li>
<li>HBO</li>
<li>Bill Maher</li>
<li>Warner Media</li>
<li>Conde Nast</li>
<li>GQ</li>
<li>Heavy.com</li>
<li>The Hill</li>
<li>The Atlantic</li>
<li>Bustle.com</li>
<li>Ilhan Omar</li>
<li>Elizabeth Warren</li>
<li>Kathy Griffin</li>
<li>Alyssa Milano</li>
<li>Jim Carrey</li>
</ol>
This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.

Covington Catholic Student Nick Sandmann Gets Settlement From CNN After $275 Million Lawsuit

As we end another year, our popular culture still revolves around President Donald Trump, and our news and entertainment conglomerates continue to be outraged that conservative Christians stick with him, so much so they are summarily ignored. Support him as, say, Franklin Graham and a vast majority of evangelicals have done and &#8230; crickets. But what happens when evangelicals don&#8217;t?
Happy days are here again. The left has lunged to promote an editorial by Christianity Today magazine that insists Trump must be removed from office. What the left understands — and some on the right still ignore — is that the cultural is far more powerful than the political. Thus, whenever a force on the cultural left flaps its wings, it is saluted. In the rare occasion that the entity advances the cultural right, it&#8217;s slammed, or ignored.
But that&#8217;s not necessarily how America sees it, thanks to social media that has done an end run around the press and told the truth. The left still dominates in the cultural space, but it no longer enjoys a monopoly.
Let&#8217;s look at the cultural winners and losers of 2019:
Loser: Jussie Smollett, the &#8220;Empire&#8221; actor and Hollywood race hoaxer who cost the taxpayers of Chicago more than $130,000 for all the time it took police to look for a nonexistent hate crime. Nothing says viral like a black gay celebrity claiming he was beaten by red-hatted Trumpster thugs. For two weeks, the left went nuts. Celebrities, politicians and the &#8220;news&#8221; media convicted Trump World for what it had allegedly caused. And it never happened. And now all of America knows it.
Winners: the students of Covington Catholic High School. Speaking of viral sensations of &#8220;fake news&#8221; around Trump hats, these high school kids were smeared relentlessly for several days for allegedly making evil smirks at a Native American activist. But the Diocese of Covington launched an investigation and found &#8220;no evidence of offensive or racist statements.&#8221; Again it was social media that spread the word to tens of millions across the country about the wrong done to the students. They were vindicated in the court of public opinion.
Winner: &#8220;Unplanned,&#8221; the movie about Abby Johnson, who converted from Planned Parenthood clinic director to conservative Catholic activist. Major music labels refused to license songs for it. Cable-news channels refused to run ads for it. Newspaper film critics refused to review it. And yet the little film became the talk of social media. What Pure Flix delivered has done more to advance the pro-life cause than the National Right to Life Committee has accomplished in the past three decades.
Loser: the abortion industry. In September, the Planned Parenthood-affiliated Guttmacher Institute estimated that there were about 862,000 abortions in 2017, nearly 200,000 fewer than in 2011. The abortion rate — the number of abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 — dropped to 13.5 in 2017, the lowest rate since Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in 1973.
Loser: Gillette. In January, NPR touted a Gillette ad that attacked its own consumers. &#8220;The first half of the ad portrays males as boorish, sexually harassing women, mansplaining and bullying,&#8221; NPR reported. It probably saw the ad as an anti-Trump message. The second half of the ad insisted men must change. The ad went viral. Then, Gillette dug in deeper. Shortly before Father&#8217;s Day, the company launched an ad about a dad teaching his &#8220;son&#8221; — a biological girl — how to shave. Sales tanked. But the company claimed it wasn&#8217;t the ads. It blamed &#8220;lower shaving frequency.&#8221;
Loser: The Walt Disney Studios. It dominated the top-grossing movies, but superhero flicks like &#8220;Avengers: Endgame&#8221; and &#8220;Captain Marvel&#8221; pandered aerobically to feminists. And for all that energy, leftist sites like Slate still bashed the movies for being &#8220;too patronizing, too late.&#8221; Why bother messing with superheroes?
L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center. Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org. To find out more about Brent Bozell III and Tim Graham, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Captain Marvel.

BOZELL & GRAHAM: Cultural Winners And Losers Of 2019

Abortion

Disney

Jussie Smollett

Marvel

A federal judge in Kentucky reopened Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann&#8217;s $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post on Monday after having previously dismissed it over the summer.
&#8220;After reviewing an amended complaint, Judge William Bertelsman ordered Monday that the case could enter the discovery phase and hence a portion of the lawsuit against the newspaper could continue,&#8221; the Cincinnati Enquirer <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/28/cov-cath-judge-rules-lawsuit-against-washington-post-can-continue/2489395001/">reported</a>.
The lawsuit is allowed to proceed but has been limited in scope after the judge said that 30 out of the 33 statements that Sandmann&#8217;s lawyers argued were libelous were not actually libelous.
The Enquirer added: &#8220;The judge&#8217;s order that discovery can continue means Sandmann&#8217;s legal team can make requests for internal Washington Post documents concerning the events like emails and communications between editors and reporters.&#8221;
&#8220;The Court will adhere to its previous rulings as they pertain to these statements except Statements 10, 11, and 33, to the extent that these three statements state that plaintiff &#8216;blocked&#8217; Nathan Phillips and &#8216;would not allow him to retreat,'&#8221; Judge Bertelsman said on Monday, according to <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/28/nick-sandmann-covington-catholic-student-washingto/">The Washington Times</a>.
&#8220;Suffice to say that the Court has given this matter careful review and concludes that ‘justice requires’ that discovery be had regarding these statements and their context,&#8221; Bertelsman added. &#8220;The Court will then consider them anew on summary judgment.&#8221;
Sandmann attorneys Todd V. McMurtry and L. Lin Wood celebrated the judge&#8217;s decision, calling it a &#8220;huge win.&#8221;
&#8220;The Sandmann family and our legal team are grateful that Judge Bertelsman has allowed the case to proceed,&#8221; McMurtry said in an email, according to the Times. &#8220;The Court’s ruling preserves the heart of the Nicholas Sandmann’s claims. We can consider this a huge victory and look forward to initiating discovery against The Washington Post.&#8221;
McMurtry added on Twitter: &#8220;NEWSFLASH: Federal Judge William O. Bertelsman partially reversed his ruling to dismiss #nicksandmann&#8217;s claims against the @washingtonpost. Nick&#8217;s case may now proceed into discovery. The ruling bodes [well] for the NBC and CNN cases, as well.&#8221;
&#8220;This is a huge win,&#8221; McMurtry concluded. &#8220;Now #NickSandmann will be able to start discovery and find out exactly what the reporters were thinking when they attacked Nicholas and the #CovingtonCatholic kids.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
This is a huge win. Now <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NickSandmann?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NickSandmann</a> will be able to start discovery and find out exactly what the reporters were thinking when they attacked Nicholas and the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CovingtonCatholic?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CovingtonCatholic</a> kids.
— Todd V. McMurtry (@ToddMcMurtry) <a href="https://twitter.com/ToddMcMurtry/status/1188878949268512773?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2019</a></blockquote>
Wood wrote on Twitter: &#8220;As a prepare for summary judgment hearing today in LA in Vernon Unsworth v. Elon Musk, the news of our team’s huge win in Covington, KY reaffirms my career-long belief that our system of justice works. Nicholas Sandmann deserves his day in court against WaPo. Now he will get it.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
As a prepare for summary judgment hearing today in LA in Vernon Unsworth v. Elon Musk, the news of our team’s huge win in Covington, KY reaffirms my career-long belief that our system of justice works. Nicholas Sandmann deserves his day in court against WaPo. Now he will get it.
— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) <a href="https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1188882340585459712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2019</a></blockquote>
Sandmann&#8217;s legal team also filed massive lawsuits against CNN and NBCUniversal for their smears against the teenagers.
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/sandmann-family-sue-cnn-for-275m-in-covington-catholic-controversy">reported</a> on March 12 that &#8220;the lawsuit, filed just after 3 P.M. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, claims that CNN &#8216;elevated false, heinous accusations of racist conduct&#8217; against Sandmann and failed to adhere to &#8216;well-established journalistic standards and ethics.'&#8221;
The Washington Times <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/may/1/nick-sandmann-covington-catholic-teen-sues-nbc-275/">reported</a> on May 1 that Sandmann&#8217;s attorneys filed a &#8220;$275 million lawsuit Wednesday against NBCUniversal over its coverage of the Kentucky teen, accusing the network of creating a &#8216;false narrative&#8217; driven by its &#8216;anti-Trump agenda.'&#8221;

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