PERSON: Nick Sandmann / Nicholas Sandmann

Nicholas Sandmann, then a 16-year-old student at Covington Catholic High School, sued several media companies, alleging they defamed him in their reporting of the incident.

The actions of Sandmann and his classmates were intensely debated online after video and photographs emerged of them wearing “Make America Great Again” hats near a Native American man, Nathan Phillips, playing a drum. Sandmann argued that Phillips’ statements that Sandmann “blocked him” as he moved through the crowd were defamatory and sought tens of millions of dollars in damages from The New York Times, CBS News, ABC News, Gannett and Rolling Stone. Sandmann reached undisclosed settlements with CNN and The Washington Post in 2020 and NBC News in 2021 over their coverage of the incident.

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