A teenager in Maryland has filed a $20 million defamation lawsuit against CBS after the network’s evening news broadcast portrayed him as a suspect in the vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool earlier this year.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, names CBS Broadcasting and CBS Interactive as defendants. The plaintiff, identified in court records as JV, is a 15-year-old high school student who is seeking more than $20 million in compensatory and punitive damages. The complaint accuses CBS of defamation and invasion of privacy through false-light publicity.
The dispute concerns a June 21 report on “CBS Evening News” about arrests connected to alleged vandalism at the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. During the segment, anchor Jericka Duncan told viewers that five people had been arrested while video showed the teenager in handcuffs. The complaint alleges that the combination of narration and footage incorrectly suggested that the teenager was among those accused of damaging the landmark.
According to the lawsuit, the teenager was riding an electric dirt bike near the National Mall on June 20 when law enforcement officers briefly detained and handcuffed him. He was subsequently released without charges, and his encounter with police was unrelated to the vandalism investigation. The complaint says the original television broadcast showed the teenager from behind, but versions distributed through CBS’s website and social media accounts included footage revealing his face.
The lawsuit alleges that CBS had access to information establishing why the teenager had been detained. The footage originated with Freedom News TV, which described two separate police encounters involving someone suspected of vandalism and another person detained for riding a dirt bike. The person who recorded the video also publicly identified the teenager as someone detained because of his bike, according to the complaint.
Attorneys for the teenager contend that CBS either knew the footage was misleading or failed to investigate information that would have prevented the mistake. The complaint further alleges that the online editing made the teenager identifiable while Duncan discussed the arrests and identified another suspect, David Hearn.
The report racked up nearly 2 million views across different CBS News social media platforms, including TikTok and Facebook. The teenager was recognized by classmates, friends and hockey teammates, some of whom subsequently distanced themselves from him, according to the lawsuit; he alleges the coverage caused significant emotional distress and concerns about his future educational and employment opportunities.
A spokesperson for CBS News has not yet returned a request for comment.
CBS removed the social media reports by approximately August 6, according to the filing. During an August 16 broadcast of “CBS Evening News,” Duncan issued a retraction, stating: “We never should have published this story.”
The teenager’s attorneys argue that the retraction did not adequately address the reputational damage caused by the original reporting. The lawsuit seeks more than $10 million in compensatory damages and an additional $10 million in punitive damages, with the amounts to be determined by a jury.
While members of the Trump administration initially blamed vandalism for an issue involving peeling paint at the bottom of the Reflecting Pool, inspectors later determined the peeling paint was the byproduct of poor renovation practices.
