• by Ray Schultz , July 27, 2022

The massive libel suit filed by Pro-Trump high school student Eric Sandmann against several national media organizations has been dismissed on First Amendment grounds. 

U.S. Distirct Judge William O. Bertelsman granted joint motions by the defendants, including Gannett, The New York Times, ABC News and Rolling Stone, for summary judgement. 

Then-teenager Sandmann claimed he was defamed by coverage of an incident at the Lincoln Memorial in 2016, in which Native American rights activist Nathan Phillips said the student Sandmann blocked him and would not allow him to retreat.  

The politically charged -- some say racially charged -- episode received widespread publicity.

Bertelsman wrote that “The media defendants were covering a matter of great public interest, and they reported Phillips’s first-person view of what he experienced.”

Thus, Phillips’ “blocking” comments were protected.

The court struck down as moot Sandmann’s motions for partial summary judgment based on falsity. 

Sandmann had filed suit against the Times, Gannett  and numerous other media outlets, for a reported total of $1.25 billion.  

It was not known at deadline if Sandmann plans to appeal. 

The case is on file with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, North Division.