When Nick Sandmann and Nathan Phillips faced each other, one fateful image was captured: Sandmann, wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and smirking, and Phillips, beating on a drum and singing, positioned opposite each other while Sandmann’s classmates with hats to match jeered in the background.
It’s a polarizing and powerful photo, one that captures two sides of a debate that’s raged on for years.
I’ve seen smiles like Sandmann’s. It’s smug, contemptuous, arrogant and disrespectful. It’s the smile of someone who feels like they’re better than you, and relishes in that belief. Every time I see that photo, I feel like I’m watching an antique newsreel: protestors taunted by men and women who laugh at the struggle and demean its purpose.
Sandmann is a public figure now. His actions at that demonstration shoved him into the spotlight, whether he wanted it or not, and he should’ve known that was a possibility. Frankly, I don’t think he was prepared for the world to see exactly what he or his classmates were like.
So, when I heard that he and his family sued The Washington Post for $250 million, I wasn’t shocked.
Just for context: Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder, bought the Post for that same amount in 2013.
Of the $250 million, $50 million are for damages. The family seeks the other $200 million for punitive reasons.
Sandmann and his family claim defamation; specifically, that the Washington Post did so for political purposes.The family says in their complaint that they want to “teach the Post a lesson that it will never forget.” The Washington Post is preparing a defense, of course, and I expect them to win this case.
Defamation is not reporting the news. Defamation is not showing what you do at a protest. And the Washington Post sure as hell didn’t whip this out of the woodwork to smear a kid in high school. The arrogance to assume that the Post would choose to make you the scapegoat of something boiling over in America for as long as time goes on is both foolish and unreasonable.
When you enter a public space and become a public figure, you have to be careful. If you want to stand there and be in someone’s face, then that’s your prerogative.
Be aware that, in this day and age, events like protests are more than likely going to be recorded by someone, especially during confrontations.
The Washington Post has much more important things to do than start a smear campaign against a kid.
The Washington Post has been at the forefront of journalism for decades. Attacking the press, not just the Post, is a dangerous encroachment of one of the basic principles of a democratic society. And for what?
I don’t expect the Sandmanns to win this case, and it almost seems like this is just an attempt to stay in the spotlight and draw attention for a little bit longer: as stated earlier, the total sought payout would equal Bezos’s purchasing figure.
If the Sandmann family thinks that this case is easily winnable, then they’ll be fighting quite the surprising uphill battle. The law is on the side of the Post, and so is the side of reason.
The point being: don’t be an asshole on camera and be shocked by what happens next. And don’t expect an apology for being proven to be an asshole.