Trump cheers Covington student's lawsuit against Washington Post: 'Go get them Nick'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Trump on Wednesday cheered the news that attorneys representing a high school student involved in a now-infamous confrontation with a Native American activist last month are suing The Washington Post.
The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Kentucky, accused the Post of practicing "a modern-day form of McCarthyism" by targeting Nicholas Sandmann and "using its vast financial resources to enter the bully pulpit by publishing a series of false and defamatory print and online articles ... to smear a young boy who was in its view an acceptable casualty in their war against the president."
The suit is seeking $250 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}COVINGTON HIGH STUDENT'S LEGAL TEAM SUES WASHINGTON POST
In an early morning tweet Wednesday, Trump threw his support behind Sandmann, writing: “Covington student suing WAPO. Go get them Nick. Fake News!”
Sandmann, a junior at Covington Catholic High School, became a target for outrage after a video surfaced in January of him standing face-to-face with a Native American man, Nathan Phillips, while wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sandmann was one of a group of students from Covington attending the anti-abortion March for Life in Washington, D.C., while Phillips was attending the Indigenous Peoples' March on the same day. But while the students were initially portrayed as antagonizing the man, other details soon emerged showing he approached the students, and another group called the Black Hebrew Israelites was instigating with profane comments.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERS DEMAND APOLOGY FOR MEDIA TREATMENT OF COVINGTON STUDENTS
Earlier this month, Sandmann's attorneys sent preservation letters to more than 50 media organizations, celebrities and politicians -- including The Post, The New York Times, CNN, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and actors Alyssa Milano and Jim Carrey -- the first step in possible libel and defamation lawsuits.
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Last week, investigators hired by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington concluded that the students did not instigate the confrontation with Phillips. Bishop Roger Foys, who initially condemned the students' behavior, wrote in a letter to parents that they had been "placed in a situation that was at once bizarre and even threatening."
Washington Post spokesperson Kris Coratti told Fox News in an email that the paper was "reviewing a copy of the lawsuit, and we plan to mount a vigorous defense."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Samuel Chamberlain contributed to this report.