Judge Allows Part of Pro-Life Teen's Lawsuit Against Washington Post to Continue
On Monday, a federal district judge in Kentucky reversed a prior ruling he made last summer that will allow Nicholas Sandmann's $250 million lawsuit against the Washington Post to go to the next phase.
After reviewing an amended complaint, US District Judge William Bertelsman ordered the case could enter the discovery phase and a portion of the lawsuit against the newspaper could continue, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
Even though the lawsuit will be allowed to continue, it has been limited in scope. The judge wrote in his order that 30 out of the 33 statements that Sandmann's attorneys argued were libelous were not actually libelous. But that "justice requires" further review of three of the statements.
"These three statements state that (Sandmann) 'blocked' Nathan Phillips and 'would not allow him to retreat,'" the order reads, according to the Enquirer.
The new ruling allows Sandmann's legal team to obtain internal documents from The Post, including emails and other communication between its editors and reporters.
As CBN News reported in January, Sandmann was among a group of fellow students from Kentucky's Covington Catholic High School attending the March for Life on the National Mall, while Native American Nathan Phillips was also there for a separate rally for indigenous peoples.
One video of the encounter shows the students chanting and laughing as Phillips drummed in Sandmann's face. The footage was shared on social media and went viral, claiming that the boys blocked the Native American so they could taunt him. Liberal media outlets like CNN picked up the story and ran with it, fueling the outrage from leftists who spewed hate against the boys, assuming they were racist because some of them were wearing "Make America Great Again" hats.
But longer videos of the encounter show the boys standing in that spot for a long period of time before Phillips walked up to them to play his drum right in the middle of their group.
"The protester everyone has seen in the video began playing his drum as he waded into the crowd, which parted for him. I did not see anyone try to block his path," Sandmann said, contradicting the Native American elder's claims that one of the students wouldn't let him move. "He locked eyes with me and approached me, coming within inches of my face. He played his drum the entire time he was in my face."
The students were later condemned for their actions, but Sandmann, who was shown standing in front of Phillips smiling, says he was only trying to calm things down in the midst of the chaos. The teen explained that by "remaining motionless and calm," he believed he was "helping defuse the situation."
Todd McMurtry, one of Sandmann's attorneys, told Fox News on Tuesday he believes the new evidence shows Phillips confronted Sandmann.
In a statement to The Washington Times, McMurtry said the judge's order is a huge victory.
"The Sandmann family and our legal team are grateful that Judge Bertelsman has allowed the case to proceed," McMurtry said the statement. "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."
In addition, other attorneys representing the Covington students have filed defamation suits against other media outlets and public figures, including CNN, NBC Universal, Democrat presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, the New York Times' Maggie Haberman, comedian Kathy Griffin, ABC News's Matthew Dowd, Princeton University's Kevin Kruse, left-wing activist Shaun King, and Rewire editor-in-chief Jodi Jacobson, according to Life Site News.
