Screenshots via CBS screenshots

The parents of a 9-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fan have filed a lawsuit against the sports blog Deadspin, accusing the outlet of “maliciously” maligning their son as a racist based on a “misleadingly edited photo” which claimed that he was wearing a Native American headdress and blackface to “hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time.”

The photo Deadspin used in the article authored by Deadspin Senior Writer Carron Phillips was a screenshot of the child from the broadcast of the game showing only the right side of his face — which was painted black — but omitted the right side of his face was painted red, two of the team’s three colors.

Photo used by Deadspin in an article calling a child a racist (Lawsuit)

“Those few seconds provided just the opportunity for Deadspin Senior Writer Carron Phillips to, on behalf of himself and his employer Deadspin, maliciously and wantonly attack a nine-year-old boy and his parents for Phillips’ own race-drenched political agenda. By selectively capturing from the CBS broadcast an image of H.A. showing only the one side of his face with black paint on it — an effort that took laser-focused precision to accomplish given how quickly the boy appeared on screen — Phillips and Deadspin deliberately omitted the half of H.A.’s face with red paint on it.”

Raul Armenta, Jr. and Shannon Armenta — the child’s parents referred to in the suit as “H.A.” — say their son was simply displaying his love for his favorite football team in the same manner that “other avid sports fans have done for decades.”

The parents also dispute Deadspin’s claim that the child learned to “hate” Blacks and Native American people from his parents while also noting that H.A. himself is partially Chumash-Indian as his father belongs to the Santa Ynez Bank of the Chumash Indians and works on the tribal reservation. The boy’s paternal grandfather was also a tribal elder, the complaint said.

“The problem with Phillips’ Article: literally none of it was true,” the suit states. “Before this controversy, nine-year-old H.A. had no idea what blackface was or the racist history behind it. And he certainly did not wear black paint on half of his face to mimic or mock Black people. He is a child, and until Deadspin and Phillips’ malicious accusation, it never occurred to nine-year-old H.A. that a person could hate another for the color of their skin. The truth is that H.A.’s face was painted in Chiefs’ team colors, black and red, split down the middle — just as myriad fans and team regalia have for decades.”

The parents emphasized that they’ve taught H.A. and their other children to be proud of their Native American heritage. The family further alleges that when they pushed back against the story’s alleged falsehoods, Deadspin “doubled down” and “further defamed the Armenta family” by republishing the article with “an intentionally misleading update.”

“Over the next two weeks, the Armenta Family repeatedly wrote to Deadspin demanding that it retract the Article and apologize to the Armenta Family,” the complaint states. “Deadspin did not retract the Article, and it did not apologize. Rather, it published a series of further “updates” that not only failed to correct the record, but instead established that Deadspin fully understood the Article’s highly damaging and defamatory nature — while maliciously refusing to back down. And Deadspin’s lawyers threatened the Armenta family with counter-legal action should Raul and Shannon attempt to hold Phillips and Deadspin accountable for their false and defamatory Article.”

In December, Deadspin removed all of the photos and other information identifying H.A., and included an editor’s note stating that they unintentionally “drew attention to the fan” when they meant to spotlight “the NFL and its checkered history on race.”

The outlet has not responded to multiple requests to comment on the suit.