Fake News Can Be Costly [OPINION]

Three cheers for Nick Sandmann. The Covington Catholic High School kid falsely accused by the media of harassing Native American Nathan Phillips in D.C. back in January is suing the parent company of NBC News for $275 million.

The suit states: “NBCUniversal created a false narrative by portraying the ‘confrontation’ as a ‘hate crime’ committed by Nicholas." It says Sandmann was "an easy target for NBCUniversal to advance its anti-Trump agenda because he was a 16-year-old white, Catholic student who had attended the Right to Life March that day and was wearing a MAGA cap at the time of the incident which he had purchased earlier in the day as a souvenir.”

Sandmann's attornies have also filed a $275 million suit against CNN and are seeking $250 million from the Washington Post. His attornies are also threatening legal action against other media outlets such as the Associated Press and HBO.

Trump Derangement Syndrome motivated the media to quickly report on the encounter between Sandmann and Phillips without bothering to examine the facts before passing judgment. The desperation of the media to get to Trump allowed it to use a 16-year-old kid with no regard for the truth or wellbeing of the child.

To the media, Sandmann was just another privileged white Catholic kid in a MAGA hat who was attending a pro-life rally so he must have been guilty of something. It didn't take long for the facts to emerge, which clearly showed that Sandmann was, in fact, the victim of a headline-seeking Phillips, who as it turns out was not the Vietnam War veteran he represented himself as being.

Nick Sandmann is not a punk. He's a good kid who represented himself, his family and his school in a dignified and honorable fashion. Any parent would be proud of the way Nick Sandmann handled the situation he found himself in that day in Washington.

Good for him. I hope Nick wins every suit against the fake news media.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.