Two weeks from now, thousands of pro-life teenagers will converge on the nation's capital to rally in support of the unborn at the 47th annual March for Life.
Unfortunately, many people are uncomfortable with the idea that millennials would raise their voices to oppose abortion. The image of young kids standing together with signs that read "Choose Life" and "Abortion Stops a Beating Heart" can be disconcerting when you are used to hearing it's only old white men who want to strip women of the "right to choose."
That's the only explanation I have for what some people did to a young Catholic student from Kentucky last year when he and his classmates from Covington Catholic High attended the March for Life. As a bunch of them waited for their bus to pick them up, a Native American activist named Nathan Phillips approached, banging his drum.
Some of the boys reacted, chanting their school song while one of them, Nicholas Sandmann, stood face to face with Phillips. The boy was smiling, although many characterized his expression as a "smirk." The screen shot of that encounter went viral, and was used to attack Sandmann as a bigoted privileged white boy who was mocking both ethnic minorities and a woman's right to choose.
Now Sandmann has finally gotten some vindication via a settlement announced this week with CNN, whom Sandmann sued for defamation--and was just one of many outlets and public figures who took shots at the teen.
Some of the worst offenders were affiliated with CNN.
Because of the overwrought and under-researched comments from many in the public eye, Sandmann and his family were subjected to months of harassment. His family had to leave their house for a time.
In response, his family filed a defamation lawsuit against numerous media outlets including CNN and The Washington Post. CNN settled for an undisclosed amount, and The Post case is ongoing.
As an attorney, I know settlements are not a legal admission of guilt. But as a human being who understands it is natural to defend yourself when you think you are right, I'm convinced CNN believed it would lose where it counts the most: the court of public opinion.
Journalists can be heard wailing these days about assaults on the press. I think it is important, though, to examine those cases where they themselves are the assailants. This is one.
Based on incomplete facts and a desire to get the story out as quickly as possible, some very powerful media outlets defamed a boy, and created an environment where he was threatened. I am convinced this was, in large part, because he was young and white with pro-life beliefs.
Editorial on 01/11/2020