The Covington Catholic student who went viral for an incident between his classmates and a Native American man claimed he has lived under “constant threat” since January 2019.
A video shared online appeared to show Nicholas Sandmann and his classmates standing in front of a Native American man, Nathan Phillips. Many reports on the conflict portrayed the students as taunting the man, but longer footage revealed the students had been harassed by a group of Black Hebrew Israelite protesters who were not seen in the original viral clip.
Sandmann, who agreed to a settlement with CNN early this year, addressed the backlash from the video in an interview with Fox Nation’s Lara Logan, which was released on Monday. During it, the pair went back to the Lincoln Memorial, where the incident took place and where many “people began to stare at Nick.”
“It happens everywhere I go,” Sandmann said after being asked if that type of situation is common for him. “From in my community to different parts of the country. Everywhere I go, there is someone that will point me out.”
“Probably forever,” he added. “It’s a constant threat, and it’s a terrible threat. But you can’t choose to live your life in fear, or they’ve won and they robbed you of your life.”
His suit against CNN, which was filed last March, singled out four television broadcasts and nine articles that he claimed contained statements toward or about Sandmann that were defamatory. The suit sought $75 million for harm to the student’s reputation and $200 million in punitive damages, but the details surrounding the settlement have not been released publicly.
*story by The Washington Examiner