CBS News faces $20M defamation lawsuit after misidentifying Maryland teenager in Reflecting Pool report

CBS News is facing a defamation lawsuit as a Maryland teenager seeks $20 million in damages, claiming he was falsely identified as a person arrested for vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s lining.

The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in U.S.

District Court in the District of Columbia, identified the 15-year-old plaintiff simply as "JV." "He was not arrested for vandalizing it.

He was not accused by law enforcement of vandalizing it.

Yet CBS News broadcast and published a story to a national audience that placed JV's image alongside the assertion that five people had been arrested for vandalizing and ‘sabotaging’ the Reflecting Pool, thereby falsely portraying JV as one of the perpetrators of a highly publicized federal crime," the lawsuit stated.

NORTH CAROLINA STUDENT WINS $95K AFTER SCHOOL ACCUSED HER OF VANDALIZING SPIRIT ROCK WITH CHARLIE KIRK TRIBUTE "The accusation was particularly damaging because at all times material to the allegations, the Reflecting Pool renovation and subsequent alleged vandalism of the Reflecting Pool is or has been the subject of intense national attention and political controversy," the complaint continued.

"President Donald Trump frequently discusses the Reflecting Pool renovation and publicly condemned those accused of vandalism in extraordinarily harsh terms, stating that they should be ‘prosecuted to the max,’" it added.

The lawsuit states that CBS "inserted" JV into the controversy and "exposed him to extreme embarrassment, humiliation, and the public condemnation" directed at the actual vandals.

The lawsuit claims JV’s presence near the Reflecting Pool "was entirely unrelated to the vandalism" and he was simply briefly detained for riding an e-bike in the area.

NEW YORK TIMES LOSES DEFAMATION SUIT, ORDERED TO PAY $9.25M TO FORMER ALABAMA BASKETBALL PLAYER JV was released without charges and "his detention had nothing whatsoever to do with vandalism or sabotage of the Reflecting Pool." "CBS nevertheless used video footage of JV's detention in its report about the Reflecting Pool vandalism.

As CBS anchor Jericka Duncan told viewers that ‘five people have been arrested,' the video depicted JV in handcuffs," the lawsuit stated.

"In the version CBS distributed online and through social media, CBS showed JV turning toward the camera with his face fully visible as Duncan made the statement concerning the arrests and then identified one of the alleged perpetrators, David Hearn," it continued.

"The visual and verbal presentation published by Defendants unmistakably conveyed the false message that JV was among the persons arrested for vandalizing the Reflecting Pool and further confused JV with Hearn, an adult who was subsequently indicted on a felony charge arising from the vandalism," the complaint added.