Lawyers For Covington Student Send Letters to WaPo, NYT & Others Ahead of Possible Legal Action

Nick Kangadis | February 4, 2019
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Media organizations and “personalities” around the country that falsely reported on a confrontation between high school kids and “activists” could be getting a heaping helping of karma soon, and rightfully so.

Lawyers for Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann and his family released a list of 50-plus media organizations, “journalists,” celebrities and Catholic organizations who could possibly be facing future lawsuits stemming from their agenda-driven public shaming of Sandmann and other Covington students for he crime of “smirking” and wearing “Make America Great Again” hats.

According to cincinnati.com:

The letters tell the organizations and individuals not to destroy any documents in connection with the case, the attorney said. For example, the documents could be drafts or early versions of articles or emails among staff discussing the story[…]

After a review, the lawyers "concluded we have a good faith basis to sue" certain organizations, McMurtry said. However, he said not all the organizations who were sent letters will necessarily be sued. He added that this process will not be over quickly.

McMurtry said his clients will also be demanding retractions and apologies in addition to possible litigation.

Here is the list of those that received letters from legal counsel for the Sandmann family, Todd McMurtry and L. Lin Wood:

• The Washington Post

• The New York Times

• Cable News Network, Inc. (CNN)

• The Guardian

• National Public Radio

• TMZ

• Atlantic Media Inc.

• Capitol Hill Publishing Corp.

• Diocese of Covington

• Diocese of Lexington

• Archdiocese of Louisville

• Diocese of Baltimore

• Ana Cabrera

• Sara Sidner

• Erin Burnett

• S.E. Cupp

• Elliot C. McLaughlin

• Amanda Watts

• Emanuella Grinberg

• Michelle Boorstein

• Cleve R. Wootson Jr.

• Antonio Olivo

• Joe Heim

• Michael E. Miller

• Eli Rosenberg

• Isaac Stanley-Becker

• Kristine Phillips

• Sarah Mervosh

• Emily S. Rueb

• Maggie Haberman

• David Brooks

• Shannon Doyne

• Kurt Eichenwald

• Andrea Mitchell

• Savannah Guthrie

• Joy Reid

• Chuck Todd

• Noah Berlatsky

• Elisha Fieldstadt

• Eun Kyung Kim

• HBO

• Bill Maher

• Warner Media

• Conde Nast

• GQ

• Heavy.com

• The Hill

• The Atlantic

• Bustle.com

• Ilhan Omar

• Elizabeth Warren

• Kathy Griffin

• Alyssa Milano

• Jim Carrey

That’s a pretty extensive list, and the length of it is justified considering the level of hate directed at Sandmann, his family and other Covington students for a false narrative that was pushed on the American people despite the complete footage of the incident being available the whole time.

“They know they crossed the line," McMurtry said. "Do they want 12 people in Kentucky to decide their fate? I don't think so.”

Just for accuracy’s sake, it’s interesting to note that the cincinnati.com article that reported on this only noted Native American activist Nathan Phillips’ complaints about the incident. Nowhere in the article does it state that Sandmann was the victim of a false narrative. The Black Hebrew Israelites, a racist hate group, was not mentioned in the article at all, despite mountains of video evidence that they were instigators in the ordeal. The article called the incident “a much-debated confrontation.”

Apparently, it doesn't matter that everyone knows the truth about this incident. The media’s got a narrative to push. Unfortunately for them, they might be seeing themselves in a courtroom in the future.

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