Nick Sandmann, the white Covington Catholic teen who went viral for confronting Native American elder Nathan Phillips on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, is planning to sue everybody who he claims made him look bad.
—Nick Sandmann on confrontation with Native American elder: ‘I had every right to do so.’—
Sandmann, who has been given a national platform to explain his actions during the March for Life protest in Washington D.C., says he has been bombarded with negative comments and hateful threats after the media firestorm and public outrage.
So he and his family have secured high-powered defamation lawyer L. Lin Wood and Fort Mitchell, Ky., attorney Todd V. McMurtry who will represent the 16-year-old against the inflammatory comments and media reports.
“In the coming weeks, we will be carefully reviewing all of the false accusations and threats made against Nick. We fully expect that a multitude of civil lawsuits will be filed and aggressively pursued,” Wood said in a statement posted on his website.
“We recognize that justice for Nick will not be achieved quickly, but we are dedicated to achieving it for this young man regardless of time or expense.”
Wood reportedly has a long history of the “management of the media in high-profile cases.”
Wood is best known for defending Richard Jewell, who was wrongly accused of a bombing at Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He has also represented Herman Cain who was a former presidential candidate in a false accusation lawsuit. Wood has also represented John and late Patsy Ramsey, the parents of the slain child model JonBenet Ramsey.
In a controversial “Today Show” interview after the incident, Sandmann declined to apologize Phillips.
“As far as standing there, I had every right to do so. My position is that I was not disrespectful to Mr. Phillips. I respect him. I’d like to talk to him,” Sandmann said. “But I can’t say that I’m sorry for listening to him and standing there.”
Phillips, in his own followup interview, said Sandmann’s response sounded “coached and written up for him.”