Atlanta libel lawyer Lin Wood on Tuesday sued The Washington Post for $250 million on behalf of a Kentucky teenager whose face-to-face encounter with a Native American protester at the Lincoln Memorial last month generated an international media firestorm.

Wood branded the Post's online and print coverage of 16-year-old Nicholas Sandmann's encounter with Native American activist Nathan Phillips “a modern-day form of McCarthyism.” The suit seeks $50 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages—an amount Wood said is equal to the price Jeff Bezos paid for the newspaper when he bought it in 2013.

The tweeted snapshot that sparked the coverage depicts Sandmann smiling and wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat while surrounded by other teenage boys as he stands face-to-face with Phillips, who was beating a drum.

Phillips has said in multiple interviews that he was attending the Indigenous Peoples March on the National Mall. Sandmann and classmates at Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky, were in Washington for the annual Right to Life March.

The lawsuit claims that Sandmann was targeted for ridicule “because he was the white, Catholic student wearing a red 'Make America Great Again' souvenir cap.”On Wednesday, Wood said he and co-counsel Todd McMurtry of Kentucky firm Hemmer DeFrank Wessels “fully intend to pursue all members of the mainstream and social media mob of bullies who viciously attacked, vilified and threatened Nicholas. Our efforts will include seeking redress from the Diocese of Covington which also joined the mob and prematurely rushed to condemn an innocent student.”

“No one took pause to consider that he is a minor,” Wood said. “They did not care. The mob falsely portrayed this boy worldwide as the face of evil, and the reputational and emotional damage they have inflicted on Nicholas is very real and severe.”

Wood said he sued the Post first “to make clear that we will not be intimidated by the size or financial resources of any of his accusers.”

Kristine Coratti Kelly, the Post's vice president of communications said, “We are reviewing a copy of the lawsuit and we plan to mount a vigorous defense.”

Sandmann's defamation claims rest predominantly on conflicting interviews Phillips gave to the Post and other media outlets after the encounter went viral.

Other interviews conducted by the Post that Wood claims defamed the teen included accounts by an organizer for the Indigenous Peoples Movement and an attorney with the Lakota People Law Project who were with Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial and witnessed the encounter with Sandmann.

Wood also claimed the newspaper's publication of a statement released by the Catholic diocese that operates Covington Catholic High School included defamatory material, including a characterization of Sandmann's attitude during the encounter as “disrespectful.”

After conducting an investigation, the diocese on Feb. 11 issued a report and a letter the lawsuit said belatedly exonerated the teen and his fellow students of any inappropriate behavior.

The lawsuit also claims the hostile social media response on Twitter “was influenced by early media coverage of the Post.”

The Twitter account that published video of the encounter with disparaging commentary about Sandmann was soon tagged as a likely fraudulent account “suspicious for its high follower count, unusually high rate of tweets, highly polarized and yet inconsistent political messaging, and the use of someone else's image in the profile photo.”

The suit also claimed that Phillips' multiple interviews to media outlets “are remarkable in their inconsistency” and were both inaccurate and “incendiary.” The suit also claims that in publishing Phillips' interview, the Post “ignored the importance” of verifying damaging allegations “against a minor child” prior to publication.

The suit also claims the Post “recklessly rushed to publish” Phillips' account “in order to advance its own agenda against President [Donald] Trump.”

“In doing so, the Post lifted the incident from social media and place it in mainstream media,” giving Phillips' claims “credibility and permanence,” the suit claims.

The president tweeted news of the suit Wednesday, including a reference to Sandmann. “Go get them Nick. Fake News!” Trump tweeted.

Wood retweeted the president, adding his own commentary. “Nick Sandmann's lawsuit against Washington Post is not political. But the bias of Post against @realDonaldTrump is a provable fact that is relevant to the litigation. We appreciate the President's support. As should everyone who values our children & their reputations & safety.”

Nicholas Sandmann (left) faces Native American activist Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 18. (Photo: Images via YouTube)

Since the Sandmann family retained him on Jan. 25, Wood has been conducting a running commentary on Twitter defending the teenager as a victim of media bullying.

The lawsuit also offers Sandmann's own account of the Jan. 18 encounter at the Lincoln Memorial as he and classmates were waiting for school buses to pick them up. The lawsuit depicts Sandmann and his classmates as attempting to use school cheers to drown out another group that was shouting obscenities and racial epithets at them.

As the teenage boys were cheering, Phillips and his companions approached them, beating drums, singing, dancing and carrying cameras, the suit claims.

Sandmann's and Phillips' accounts diverge substantially at that point. The lawsuit claims that while Phillips beat his drum near Sandmann's face, the teen “stood still as he was concerned that turning away from Phillips might be considered a sign of disrespect.”

The suit also claims that, at one point, Sandmann quietly signaled a classmate to refrain from responding to profanity-laced insults being directed at the student by one of Phillips' companions. That encounter was included in an online video that Wood compiled and posted in Sandmann's defense.