Nick Sandmann, the Covington Catholic high schooler who sued eight national news organizations for defamation, has lost the five remaining lawsuits, a judge ruled Wednesday. The Trump supporter became infamous for standing in front of Native American activist Nathan Phillips as Phillips was beating a drum and peacefully protesting at the Lincoln Memorial in January 2019. Sandmann sued the news companies claiming they wrongfully characterized him as blocking and intimidating Phillips and made him the face of racist high school students harassing protesters that day in D.C. The judge ruled that Sandmann’s legal arguments held no merit and it would be a waste of time to take the suits to trial. “The media defendants were covering a matter of great public interest, and they reported Phillips’s first-person view of what he experienced. This would put the reader on notice that Phillips was simply giving his perspective on the incident. Therefore, in the factual context of this case, Phillips’ ‘blocking’ statements are protected opinions. This holding moots all other motions before the Court,” the judge wrote.
