Dozens of prominent media outlets and politicians, including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05), were issued legal letters Friday in the first step in the lawsuit against those who defamed the Covington Catholic High School students.
The Minnesota Sun reported in January that Omar was at risk of being sued after she claimed that the boys at the center of the incident “were taunting five black men before they surrounded Phillips and led racist chants.” Video of the exchange showed that precisely the opposite occurred.
In fact, the Covington Catholic High School students were approached by members of the Black Hebrew Israelites and repeatedly taunted as “dirty ass crackers,” “dirty animals,” “racists,” “bigots,” “faggots,” “incest kids,” and more.
Attorney Robert Barnes, who is helping with the case, told The Minnesota Sun in January that if Omar “doesn’t retract what she said, she will be sued next week.” She did later delete the tweet in question, but offered no apology or correction.
Now, Nick Sandmann’s attorneys have sent letters to those who potentially libeled him and his peers. The letters offer steps to take to avoid being sued, and direct all offending parties not to delete any communications related to the case. According to Barnes, the “settlement offer to the offending parties is simple: pin a tweet apologizing or delete your account. Otherwise, face suit.”
The settlement offer to the offending parties is simple: pin a tweet apologizing or delete your account. Otherwise, face suit, including @kathygriffin @rezaaslan @maggieNYT @matthewjdowd @ananavarro @SenWarren @RepDebHaaland https://t.co/6gv0cNmGbS
— Robert Barnes (@barnes_law) February 4, 2019
Barnes is part of a team of seven lawyers helping in the case, which also includes Todd McMurtry and experienced libel and defamation lawyer L. Lin Wood, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
“We want to change the conversation. We don’t want this to happen again. We want to teach people a lesson,” McMurtry said. “There was a rush by the media to believe what it wanted to believe versus what actually happened.”
Others who were issued letters Friday include:
- CNN
- The New York Times
- The Washington Post
- National Public Radio
- The Guardian
- TMZ
- Atlantic Media Inc.
- Diocese of Covington
- Diocese of Lexington
- Archdiocese of Louisville
- Diocese of Baltimore
- Ana Cabrera
- Sara Sidner
- Erin Burnett
- S.E. Cupp
- David Brooks
- Kurt Eichenwald
- Andrea Mitchell
- Joy Reid
- Chuck Todd
- HBO
- Bill Maher
- The Hill
- GQ
- The Atlantic
- Elizabeth Warren
- Kathy Griffin
- Alyssa Milano
- Jim Carrey
In total, 54 individuals or organizations were sent letters, including several other reporters and media organizations not listed above.
https://twitter.com/BreakingNLive/status/1091833667041849344
“For the mob to just go tear apart a 16-year-old boy is inexcusable,” McMurtry told The Enquirer. “He’ll never be able to get away from this.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
I hope Ilhan Omar is the first to get sued.