A greatly heated debate over the confrontation between Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann, other students and a Native American is turning into a much-anticipated lawsuit between Sandmann and those who immediately slandered him when an edited video of the incident went viral.
The lawyers representing Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann and his family said Friday they have sent letters to media outlets, individual journalists, celebrities and Catholic organizations as the first step in possible libel and defamation lawsuits.
The list includes 50-plus names of organizations or individuals: from presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren to actress Alyssa Milano; individual journalists including Maggie Haberman, Ana Cabrera and David Brooks; national media outlets like the The New York Times, CNN, GQ and TMZ; and the dioceses of Covington and Lexington as well as the archdioceses of Louisville and Baltimore.
The legal counsel representing Nick and his family, Todd McMurtry and experienced libel and defamation lawyer L. Lin Wood of Atlanta, have said they will seek justice for the harm allegedly done to the teen.
McMurtry said an example of false reports were those saying Nick got into the face of Phillips.
McMurtry added his belief that some in the aftermath of the incident “permanently stained (Nick’s) reputation.”
This week they have prepared documentation preservation letters addressed to organizations and individuals they believe may have defamed or libeled Nick with false reporting, McMurtry said.
McMurtry said the following organizations and people are those who can expect to receive the letters, which were all sent by the close of business on Friday.
- The Washington Post
- The New York Times
- Cable News Network, Inc. (CNN)
- The Guardian
- National Public Radio
- TMZ
- Atlantic Media Inc.
- Capitol Hill Publishing Corp.
- Diocese of Covington
- Diocese of Lexington
- Archdiocese of Louisville
- Diocese of Baltimore
- Ana Cabrera
- Sara Sidner
- Erin Burnett
- S.E. Cupp
- Elliot C. McLaughlin
- Amanda Watts
- Emanuella Grinberg
- Michelle Boorstein
- Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
- Antonio Olivo
- Joe Heim
- Michael E. Miller
- Eli Rosenberg
- Isaac Stanley-Becker
- Kristine Phillips
- Sarah Mervosh
- Emily S. Rueb
- Maggie Haberman
- David Brooks
- Shannon Doyne
- Kurt Eichenwald
- Andrea Mitchell
- Savannah Guthrie
- Joy Reid
- Chuck Todd
- Noah Berlatsky
- Elisha Fieldstadt
- Eun Kyung Kim
- HBO
- Bill Maher
- Warner Media
- Conde Nast
- GQ
- Heavy.com
- The Hill
- The Atlantic
- Bustle.com
- Ilhan Omar
- Elizabeth Warren
- Kathy Griffin
- Alyssa Milano
- Jim Carrey
“They know they crossed the line,” McMurtry said. “Do they want 12 people in Kentucky to decide their fate? I don’t think so.”
He added that those on the list will “raise legal defenses and challenges that we’ll have to overcome, but that’s the way it goes.”
Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann’s legal team released a 15-minute video on Friday exposing “the truth” about what happened to him at January’s March for Life.
Sandmann’s lead attorney, nationally-recognized First Amendment expert L. Lin Wood, said in a tweet Saturday that the release of the full video was meant to show “the full truth” of what happened to his client at the March for Life, combating many of the “agenda-driven” accusations and threats resulting from the piecemeal 30-second clips circulating the Internet:
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer, Breitbart
