The infamous MAGA cap boy, Nicholas Sandmann, 16, from Covington, Kentucky has sued the Washington Post for $349 million for defamation, claiming the paper falsely accused him of racist acts and starting a confrontation with a Native American activist.
The concerning incident involved the teen who wore a Make America Great Again (MAGA) souvenir cap on a school field trip to the March for Life anti-abortion rally in Washington on January 18.
The confrontation was filmed and quickly went viral.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Kentucky seeks $US250 million ($349 million) in damages, which is the amount that Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com and the world’s richest person, paid for the Post in 2013.
Sandmann claims in the lawsuit that the Post “wrongfully targeted and bullied” him to advance its bias against US President Donald Trump.
The Washington Post‘s vice-president for communications Kristine Coratti Kelly said: “We are reviewing a copy of the lawsuit and we plan to mount a vigorous defence”.
In a photo that went viral from the incident, Sandmann is seen standing face to face with Native American activist Nathan Phillips.
The teen is seen smiling at him while Phillips sings and plays his drum.
The suit was filed by Sandmann’s parents, Ted and Julie, on Nicholas’ behalf.
In a statement, Sandmann’s Atlanta-based lawyer, Lin Wood, said similar lawsuits would be filed in the coming weeks.
A private investigation firm found in a report released last week no evidence the teenagers provoked a confrontation.
The investigation also found the students did not direct any racist or offensive comments toward Phillips, although several performed a “tomahawk chop” to the beat of his drum.
Phillips alleged he heard the students chanting “build that wall”, during the encounter.
The investigators said they did not find any evidence of this and that Phillips failed to respond to multiple attempts to contact him.
