Conservatives Cheer Nick Sandmann’s CNN Settlement

You are not signed in as a Premium user; you are viewing the free version of this program. Premium users have access to full-length programs with limited commercials and receive a 10% discount in the store! Sign up for only one day for the low cost of $1.99. Click the button below.

See All Plans

COVINGTON, Ky. (ChurchMilitant.com) - Catholic high schooler Nick Sandmann is getting an undisclosed amount from CNN, and may be getting more from other media companies in the future.

CNN settled with the Catholic teen for an undisclosed amount on Tuesday, as announced at a federal courthouse in Covington, Kentucky.

Though the settlement's cash amount has not been made public, some say it is in the millions.

Conservatives are applauding the news. On Twitter, for example, commentator Mike Cernovich called the settlement "an eight-figure blow to CNN's brand."

Cernovich claimed, "Although the settlement is confidential, I can say this as a fact — Nick Sandmann got paid."

Sandmann himself merely tweeted, "Yes, we settled with CNN."

Sandmann and other students from Covington Catholic High School became victims of fake news while in Washington, D.C. for the 2019 March for Life.

On the day of the March for Life, Native American elder and professional activist Nathan Phillips accosted Sandmann and other pro-life high-schoolers, beating a drum and singing. He got close to Sandmann, who was wearing a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat, and pounded the drum inches from the teenager's face.

Leftists were outraged after deceptively-edited video clips surfaced, making it look like Sandmann and other teenagers were harassing an elderly Native American. Soon, many of the boys in the video were doxxed.

Bishops and pro-life leaders around the country quickly threw Sandmann and the others under the bus — including their own bishop, Roger Foys of the diocese of Covington.

Further video footage later surfaced, showing the high schoolers were not the aggressors, but were on the receiving end of plentiful verbal abuse from adults.

Black Hebrew Israelites, members of what many consider a black separatist hate group, hurled anti-white diatribes at the pro-life teens who were waiting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for their tour bus. (Recently, one of the two men who attacked a kosher supermarket in Jersey City last month, killing three, was linked to the Black Hebrew Israelite movement.) They called the predominantly white teenage boys "future school shooters," and told a black teenager in the crowd his white classmates were plotting to harvest his organs.

This is largely according to cell phone footage from one of the Black Hebrew Israelites present that day.

One Covington Catholic student got permission from a chaperone to do school cheers to drown out the hate. As they chanted their cheers, Phillips and other Native American activists arrived on the scene.

One of the Black Hebrew Israelites pointed out the MAGA hats to one of the Native Americans — seemingly identifying the boys as an easy target. As Phillips entered the crowd of teens, a Native American man accompanying Phillips screamed in a boy's face, "This is not your land, you have been here two, three generations compared to us. We've been here a million f***ing years. So, get the f*** out of my face with this s***."

Despite this further video evidence, some remained convinced the Covington Catholic students were racist. Decade-old photos of Covington Catholic's cheer section were taken out of context to make it look like students were wearing blackface.

Students from other Catholic schools in the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky area were insulted on social media for taking photos with students from Covington Catholic.

Even after video footage appeared to exonerate the Covington Catholic students, Bp. John Stowe of the nearby diocese of Lexington, Kentucky blasted the boys in an op-ed for the Lexington Herald-Leader, writing, "I am ashamed that the actions of Kentucky Catholic high school students have become a contradiction of the very reverence for human life that the march is supposed to manifest."

In the days following the March for Life incident, the Covington diocese launched an independent, third-party investigation into the students' behavior. When the results of that investigation were published in February, it showed the teens were innocent.

Church Militant contacted the Covington diocese Wednesday to ask about Sandmann's settlement with CNN. A spokesperson said the diocese has no comment at this time.

In addition to CNN, Sandmann has also filed suit against NBC Universal and the Washington Post. A judge dismissed the lawsuit against the Washington Post in July, but part of the suit was reinstated in October.

Sandmann's attorney, Lin Wood, said there may soon be a lawsuit against Phillips, as well.

Have a news tip? Submit news to our tip line.

We rely on you to support our news reporting. Please donate today.