A 15-year-old Maryland teenager is suing CBS News for more than $20 million, alleging the network falsely portrayed him as a suspect in the vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in a report it later retracted.
The complaint, filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., accuses CBS Broadcasting and CBS Interactive of defamation and invasion of privacy through false-light publicity after footage of the teenager being handcuffed aired alongside a report about vandalism arrests. Although CBS later retracted the report, the teenager alleges the correction failed to undo the damage to his reputation.
The dispute stems from a June 21 “CBS Evening News” broadcast in which anchor Jericka Duncan reported that five people had been arrested in connection with damage to the Reflecting Pool. As Duncan discussed the arrests, footage showed the teenager being detained by law enforcement officers.
According to the complaint, the teenager, identified by the initials JV, had been stopped the previous day while riding an electric dirt bike near the National Mall. He was released without charges, and his detention was unrelated to the vandalism investigation.
The lawsuit alleges that while the television broadcast showed the teenager from behind, CBS subsequently distributed an edited version on social media that showed his face, making him identifiable. According to the complaint, the footage originated with Freedom News TV, which had distinguished a detention for suspected vandalism from a separate detention involving a dirt bike.
The social media posts amassed at least 1.8 million views across CBS News’ Facebook, TikTok and Instagram accounts, according to the complaint. The teenager claims classmates, friends and hockey teammates recognized him and that some subsequently distanced themselves, causing emotional distress and concerns about his future.
CBS removed the social media reports by approximately Aug. 6, according to the complaint. On Aug. 16, Duncan issued an on-air retraction, saying, “We never should have published this story.”
CBS News declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing its policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
The teenager’s attorneys argue that the retraction did not adequately address the reputational harm. The lawsuit seeks more than $10 million in compensatory damages and an additional $10 million in punitive damages.
The Desk first reported the lawsuit Wednesday.
In a separate case stemming from the Reflecting Pool controversy, federal prosecutors dropped vandalism charges against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn after acknowledging that the damage attributed to him resulted from faulty construction rather than vandalism. A judge permanently dismissed Hearn’s case on Oct. 1.
