Five media companies secured a legal victory after a federal judge dismissed a multi-million dollar libel lawsuit involving a Kentucky teenager.
Nicholas Sandmann was 16 years old when a video of him coming face to face with a Native American man at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. went viral in 2019.
Sandmann, who was wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat, claimed ABC, CBS, Gannett Co. Inc, Rollings Stone and The New York Times defamed him.
Media reports reportedly quoted the Native American man saying Sandmann was blocking him and wouldn't allow him to retreat while he was playing a drum and walking through the crowd.
According to The Associated Press, the federal judge ruled Tuesday that the claims in the media reports are "objectively unverifiable and thus unactionable opinions.”
Sandmann was in Washington with classmates from Covington Catholic High School.
In a statement to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Sandmann's attorney said they plan to appeal the ruling.
