By Donald Jeffries
Embattled Covington, Ky. teen Nicholas Sandmann and his attorneys didn’t let early discouraging results dissuade them from seeking legal redress against the powerful mainstream media outlets that defamed the youngster. A federal judge has ruled that Sandmann’s lawsuit against powerhouse CNN can proceed to discovery. In addition, as Sandmann’s attorney Todd McMurtry shared on Twitter, “Federal Judge William O. Bertelsman partially reversed his ruling to dismiss #nicksandmann’s claims against the @washingtonpost. Nick’s case may now proceed into discovery. The ruling bodes well for the NBC and CNN cases, as well.”
For those with short memories, Sandmann participated in a field trip to Washington, D.C. last January, along with his Covington High School classmates. The Catholic school group was in the nation’s capital to support a pro-life march. The state-controlled media showed brief snippets of an encounter between Sandmann and Native American activist Nathan Phillips. The incident was consistently touted as an example of “white privilege” run amuck, and Phillips was portrayed sympathetically as a Vietnam veteran and disrespected victim. In response, young Sandmann and his fellow students were attacked by several celebrities, with some advocating violence against the kids.
As the entire video became available on the internet, however, Americans discovered that the actual trigger for the confrontation was a group of loud, profane, and vile racist Black Hebrew Israelites. Phillips was found to have never served in Vietnam and was later shown to have had a decidedly anti-Catholic animus.
The Washington Post predictably tried to blame dreaded “conspiracy theorists” for its irresponsible news coverage. The newspaper claimed, “A viral story spread. The mainstream media rushed to keep up. The Trump internet pounced. That outrage came from a parallel universe online, one that has been waiting for a moment like this. The pro-Trump internet has, for years, worked to create a media environment that is designed to destroy the traditional news media and replace it.
Mike Cernovich, a popular figure in this world, helped to promote the Pizzagate conspiracy theory in 2016. Pizzagate falsely accused a D.C. pizza shop of housing a secret pedophile ring, and ultimately inspired a believer to show up at the shop with an assault rifle.”
References to “Pizzagate” are often thrown out by state-controlled media sources in an attempt to demonize all questioning of authority. “Pizzagate” had absolutely nothing to do with the Washington, D.C. incident involving aggressive Black Hebrew Israelites (whose crucial involvement is still rarely mentioned by anyone), Native Americans, and a group of high school students on a field trip, waiting for their bus to take them back to Kentucky.
Out of all the celebrities who blasted Sandmann and the other Catholic students on Twitter, only actress Jamie Lee Curtis ever apologized. She tweeted, “There are two sides to every story. I made a snap judgment based on a photograph and I know better than to judge a book by its cover. I wasn’t there. I shouldn’t have commented. I’m glad there wasn’t violence. I hope these two men can meet and find common ground as can we all!” Actor Ron Pearlman called Sandmann a “little bitch,” but deleted his offensive tweets, as did Kathy Griffin, who had posted a photo of Covington basketball players making “a Nazi salute,” when in fact they were holding up three fingers. Film producer Jack Morrisey had posted the most offensive tweet of all, in which he advocated that “MAGA kids” be sent “screaming, hats first, into the woodchipper.” Comedian Bill Maher called Sandmann “a little prick. Smirk-face!” None ever retracted their inflammatory comments.
It wasn’t only establishment leftist media organs like CNN and The Washington Post that attacked Sandmann. Neocons like Rich Lowry of National Review and young Ben Shapiro also initially jumped on the attack bandwagon, although they at least subsequently issued half-hearted apologies.
In a Dec. 18 email, Sandmann’s attorney Todd McMurtry told this author, “On July 26, 2019, the United States Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Judge William O. Bertelsman initially dismissed Sandmann’s claims against The Washington Post. Sandmann asked the court to reconsider and submitted a First Amended complaint that more specifically detailed how Nathan Phillips lied and was an unreliable news source. This bolstered Sandmann’s claim that all defendants (WaPo, NBC, and CNN) were negligent when they republished Phillips’s false and defamatory statements. One that republishes defamatory statements is as liable as the one who initially made the statement.
“On Oct. 28, 2019, Judge Bertelsman partially reversed himself and held that Sandmann could proceed against all defendants for claims arising from Phillips’s statement that Sandmann ‘blocked’ him and ‘would not allow him to retreat.’ The matter is set for an initial conference on Jan. 7, 2020.”
Donald Jeffries is a highly respected author and researcher whose work on the JFK, RFK and MLK assassinations and other high crimes of the Deep State has been read by millions of people across the world. Jeffries is also the author of three books currently being sold by the AFP Online Store.
