CNN settles defamation lawsuit fromg Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann

Still from a video showing the incident. 

CNN has settled a defamation lawsuit from Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann. The Hill. The incident happened last year in Washington DC where Sandmann and the other students were participating in the March for Life when they were approached by Nathan Phillips, a Native American activist. The story went viral but the media framed it as Sandmann harassing Phillips for racist reasons. However, video came out showing that the Covington students were the ones being harassed, first by the Black Hebrew Israelites and then by Philips and his group. Sandmann sued CNN for $270 million but it unclear how much he will get in compensation. Sandmann has pending lawsuits against the Washington Post and NBC, and may sue Phillips and Gannett publishing. 

My Comment:

This is a rather huge victory in the battle against fake news. The attack on Nick Sandmann and the Covington Catholic boys was one of the most shameful and disgusting acts the media has done in the past few years and that is really saying something. 

When this story broke out I was immediately suspicious. For one thing I knew that it's usually good to bet against the media as their track record has been terrible. But it seemed obvious from the original photos that Sandmann was doing nothing wrong. He was just standing there with a smirk on his face that looked more like befuddlement and amusement than anything else. 

But this was too much for the media. For the crime of being a white male in a MAGA hat the media crucified Nick Sandmann for no reason. He had done nothing wrong even under the worst most tortured interpretation of his actions but the media put his name out to everyone and called him a terrible racist and evil person who was violently harassing a poor Native American man... by smiling at him. 

Of course the truth rapidly came out. Longer video was found that showed that Sandmann and the Covington Catholic boys were, if anything, the victims of harassment. The Black Hebrew Israelites, a group of racist black nationalists, who have been linked to some of the antisemetic killings and assaults we have had lately, were attacking these boys for a long period of time. They called them every name in the book and said things so vile that I'm not sure if I can repeat it here. 

Further investigation showed that Nathan Philips was also not a good person. He lied about how the confrontation went down saying that he was surrounded by the boys, when in fact he ran into their group pounding his drum. He also lied about being in Vietnam and was generally an awful person during this incident. 

CNN and the various other media outlets in this story were extremely evil in what they did. First of all, they didn't even do the most basic things a journalist should do, which is verify the story. Everyone in the media knows that pictures can lie and they should have been searching for evidence that the story was legit. They didn't even try as it was conservatives on the internet that discovered the Black Hebrew Israelites video that brought the context to the case. 

Second their judgement was terrible in what they decided to cover. There was no reason for this story to have gone viral in the first place as nothing happened. Nobody died and nobody was hurt, and nobody even really said anything. An awkward encounter between a high school student and an activist is not newsworthy. Though Twitter and other social media would have done their own thing there is no reason why CNN and the other news outlets had to amplify what social media was doing. 

Finally, it was very clear that the reporters involved in this case were acting out of bias or even racism when they decided to cover it the way they did. Either they really believed Sandmann's actions were evil or they just hated him because of his political affiliation and race, but it was clear that they weren't interested in the truth. They had made their mind up before even considering there might be exculpatory evidence that he did nothing wrong, which shouldn't be necessary as the whole incident was based on the idea that it's wrong for a white male to stand and smile when confronted by a Native American.

I think that Sandmann was right to sue and that CNN had no other choice than to settle. They didn't follow the basic standards of their profession and they very clearly harmed the future of a minor child. Even today on Twitter (the topic is trending right now) you can see examples of people who still believe that Sandmann is some kind of devious racist who got away with... something. Not the mention the numerous death threats that Sandmann has received. Sandmann was not a public figure and did not deserve to have his name dragged through the mud. 

Financially this is probably a big hit for CNN, who have seen their ratings tank. They cannot afford to pay much of anything and even though the amount they settled for isn't public I am guessing it will be more than they can afford. Hopefully this will cause them to be more diligent in their reporting but I can't see that happening as they have gone all in on Trump Derangement Syndrome and don't seem capable of rational thought anymore. But it may serve as a warning to other media outlets who still have some rational people in charge who, if nothing else, might want to avoid a lawsuit. 

I also think that this will probably be a good thing for the cases against the Washington Post and NBC. Though those cases are not linked directly to the CNN case it might cause the executives and legal teams in charge of those outlets to see the writing on the law and just settle. My guess is that they will give up the fight soon and Sandmann will be set for life.