ATLANTA — It's the video that's been seen worldwide and is causing people to choose sides. Now, the family of a teen at the center of a viral confrontation has hired a high-profile Atlanta attorney.
Attorney Lin Wood said the teen's reputation has been damaged and they plan to sue. Nearly a week after Kentucky high school student Nick Sandmann was shown allegedly confronting Native American elder Nathan Phillips, he is lawyering up - and another video is bringing further clarity.
The teen and his classmates were publicly condemned over a viral video and death threats have even been sent to their school. In a statement, Atlanta-based attorney Wood said the 16-year-old was prejudged with "an avalanche of false accusations, false portrayals and cyberbullying that have threated his reputation and his physical safety."
The statement continues to that "a multitude of civil lawsuits will be filed and aggressively pursued."
The teen told his side of the story during a sit-down interview with NBC's TODAY host Savannah Guthrie.
"The damages are great and this poor kid has had apparently death threats," defense attorney Darryl Cohen, who is not involved in the case, said. "He's made to look terrible but now, in the long run, he's going to be a hero and I hope he is."
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He believes Wood could seek up to $500 million in damages from the media and individual people.
Attorney Wood is no stranger to seeking hefty settlements. He represented JonBenet Ramsey's brother, Burke, in a $750 million defamation suit against CBS. The case was settled in January for an undisclosed amount. He also represented Richard Jewell - the one-time accused Atlanta Olympics bomber.
"Lin knows how to work the press," Cohen said. "He knows how to use social media. In order to win a case like this, you need to be able to manipulate the court of public opinion which are the people."