It was the 90 second smirk seen around the world. Now the parents of the teenager in the center of it have hired a team of lawyers.
More than 50 celebrities, politicians, and media organizations could face a lawsuit from the teen at the center of the Covington Catholic High School controversy.
Lawyers representing Nick Sandmann, the teen in a Make America Great Again hat seen smirking at Native American activist Nathan Phillips in the video, sent preservation letters out last Friday.
The letters are seen as the first step in possible libel and defamation lawsuits.
Among those who received the letter were Alyssa Milano, Jim Carrey, Sen Elizabeth Warren, Kathy Griffin, Savannah Guthrie, Bill Maher, and Rep Ilhan Omar.
National media outlets including the New York Times, CNN, and TMZ also received the letters, as did the dioceses of Covington and Lexington and the archdioceses of Louisville and Baltimore.
The preservation letter asked the individuals and organization not to destroy any documents that could be connected to a potential case.
“Please preserve all information that may be relevant to the Sandmann Matter,” the letter reads.
A group of teenage boys, including Nick Sandmann, surround Nathan Phillips.
“If our clients pursue litigation, we intend to serve…with discovery requests to access your computer networks and systems, and to see the production of relevant documents and communications.”.
Documents could include early drafts of articles regarding the video, emails among staff discussing the story, or tweets sent by the celebrities and politicians.
Sandmann and his family are being represented by a team of seven lawyers that have been working on the case full-time.
They include Todd McMurty and experienced libel and defamation lawyer L Lin Wood.
“We don’t want this to happen again, we want to teach people a lesson.” McMurty told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “There was a rush by the media to believe what it wanted to believe versus what actually happened.”
What “actually” happened can be viewed here.
It shows a crowd of smiling white teenage boys, some wearing MAGA hats, doing the “Tomahawk Chop” while the Native Americans play drums.
Sandmann then steps in front of Nathan Phillips and remains motionless for a minute while smirking at the elderly man.
The incident caused a firestorm on Twitter as major celebrities including Milano and Carrey, as well as Debra Messing and Chris Evans, responded.
Milano equated the MAGA hat with the ‘new white hood’, in reference to the Ku Klux Klan, after watching the viral video.
Griffin tweeted that she wanted the names of the boys in the video to be publicized and encouraged people to ‘shame them’.
‘If you think these f*****s wouldn’t dox you in a heartbeat, think again,’ she added.
Carrey made the teens the subject of one of his political paintings, titling it ‘Baby Snakes’.
Warren wrote that Phillips had endured ‘hateful taunts with dignity and strength’.
New details of the story then emerged, revealing that a group that calls themselves the Black Hebrew Israelites had been shouting racist statements at the teens.
That group had nothing to do with the Native Americans.
Phillips, it turns out, had been trying to intervene between the boys and the religious sect.
However, McMurty claims the incident ‘permanently stained’ Sandmann’s reputation and said he has concluded that there is ‘good faith basis to sue’.
‘For the mob to just go tear apart a 16-year-old boy is inexcusable,’ the lawyer said. ‘He’ll never be able to get away from this.’
McMurty plans to demand retractions and apologies in addition to possible litigation, but said not all organizations who were sent preservation letters will necessarily be sued.
Among the recipients of the demand are the following news organizations and individuals: GQ, CNN, TMZ the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Guardian, the Atlantic, National Public Radio, and the dioceses of Covington, Lexington, Louisville, and Baltimore.
Named individuals include commentator S.E. Cupp, Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D- Mass.), comedienne Kathy Griffin, actor Jim Carrey, actress Alyssa Milano, and HBO host Bill Maher.