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A federal judge has thrown out a Kentucky teen’s lawsuit against the Washington Post for its coverage of his viral encounter with a Native American activist at the Lincoln Memorial back in January.

Nicholas Sandmann, a student of Covington High School gained public notoriety after a video emerged of him wearing a “Make American Great Again” hat while standing in front of activist Nathan Phillips, while being cheered on by his fellow classmates.

Phillips, who was seen on the video beating a drum and singing while surrounded by the teenagers, claimed the the group yelled derogatory comments at him before the stare down took place. Sandmann disputed the claim in a statement, saying he believed "that by remaining motionless and calm, I was helping to diffuse the situation."

PHOTO: Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann stares down Native American activist Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial in Jan. 18, 2019. Kaya Taitano via Storyful
Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann stares down Native American activist Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial in Jan. 18, 2019.more +

In the wake of the incident and subsequent coverage, Sandmann’s parents filed a complaint alleging the Post "ignored basic journalist standards because it wanted to advance its well-known and easily documented, biased agenda against President Donald J. Trump (“the President”) by impugning individuals perceived to be supporters of the President."

 

Sandmann said he received death threats in the aftermath of the news stories published on the encounter.

The suit sought $250 million in damages.

On Friday, the federal judge overseeing the case granted the Post’s motion to dismiss, ceding to Sandmann that “The Court accepts Sandmann’s statement that, when he was standing motionless in the confrontation with Phillips, his intent was to calm the situation and not to impede or block anyone.”

The judge's ruling added that “however, Phillips did not see it that way.”

“He [Phillips] passed these conclusions on to The Post,” the judge wrote. “They may have been erroneous, but, as discussed above, they are opinion protected by the First Amendment.”

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Starrett posted:
This was an avoidable situation even though the native American seemed
to be a militant activist, as the adult he shouldn't have pushed it as long
as he was inclined to do.

 

The elder did nothing wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Va1WnlHTY

@1:45 We can see that something clicked inside of sandmann. He had a confused look on his face.  Until, he turned around and looked at his peers, then he put his smirk/mask back on. Not knocking the kid, but sometimes it's good to look deeper than what we're conditioned to focus on.

Stanky posted:

Actually Nathan Phillips got in Sandman's face, not the other way around. From CBS, not Fox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY9xOPTpk4o

It might be possible that Phillips wanted to defuse the tension caused by the 'Black Israelites' , but he was banging his drum in the wrong persons face. There was no evidence that those boys provoked anyone.

 

I wasn't talking about who got in whose face, or who provoked what.  But carry on with that narrative. You've been trained well to pick sides.

Sandman stood his ground,,, without pushing, maybe we all need to stand our ground.  Which really doesn't matter, the point is the media has an agenda.  One can't trust what we read. It has been that way for pert neer as long as I can remember.  As Long as media gets their ratings they don't care who gets hurt.  With the millions they pay their talking heads they could afford to pay the young man.

"They may have been erroneous ... but they are opinion protected by The First Amendment," Bertelsman wrote.

“The law must protect innocent minors targeted by journalists publishing click-bait sensationalized news," Todd McMurtry, co-counsel for the Sandmann family, said in the statement. "This is especially true in the current hyper-partisan political environment.”

U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman
United States district court judge appointed by Jimmy Carter
 

https://www.foxnews.com/us/jud...ncoln-memorial-rally

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