(LEX 18)– Attorneys for Covington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann announced they have filed a lawsuit against NBCUniversal Media.
Attorney Lin Wood tweeted that the suit had been filed. He later tweeted that there would be “more to follow.”
Today, Nicholas Sandmann sued NBC & MSNBC for defamation in federal court in Kentucky seeking accountability for false accusations. Nicholas did not instigate a hate crime or engage in racist conduct. Complaint available @ToddMcMurtry. #ReformOurMedia
— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) May 1, 2019
The complaint states that, “Between January 19 and January 27, 2019, NBCUniversal unleashed its vast corporate wealth, influence, and power against Nicholas to falsely attack him despite the fact that at the time, he was a 16-year-old high school student.”
It goes on to say that, “NBCUniversal created a false narrative by portraying the “confrontation” as a “hate crime” committed by Nicholas.” The complaint claims Sandmann did nothing wrong.
The complaint, which is 179 pages long, said that on the January 18 incident, “Nicholas never moved when Phillips approached him, standing quietly and respectfully for several minutes while Phillips continued to beat his drum and sing in Nicholas’ face.”
The complaint also says that after the incident, the Native American activist Nathan Phillips became “a “mainstream media darling,” engaging in a publicity tour during which he manufactured out of whole cloth varying and conflicting descriptions of the events prior to, during, and after the January 18 incident in a superficial attempt to garner public sympathy and advance his own political agenda.”
It also accuses NBC Universal of taking advantage of the social media mob to “further its own political and financial agenda.”
Back in February, the law firm announced that they had filed a suit against the Washington Post seeking $250 million in damages. The Washington Post has filed paperwork asking the judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
In March, they announced that they had filed a lawsuit against CNN seeking $274 million.
The complaint against NBCUniversal seeks $275 million.
