Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who has publicly pressed for answers in the death of Nolan Wells, is now facing the threat of a defamation lawsuit from friends of the late teenager.
Wells, an 18-year-old student athlete, was found dead after vanishing during a Fourth of July boating trip with friends off the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
According to some of the friends, Wells decided to stay behind after meeting a young woman. The woman, later identified by Our News Outlet as 19-year-old Katie McCormack, said she believed Wells would return to the boat and leave with the group.
The case has attracted national scrutiny and fueled questions over whether race was a factor in Wells’s death, since he was the only Black person on the boat.
Wells’s parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, along with Reverend Al Sharpton, have questioned the friends’ version of events, saying they do not believe the teenager would have voluntarily separated from the group he traveled with.
Sharpton gave the eulogy at Wells’s funeral and has also appeared at news conferences with the teenager’s parents and prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, whom the family hired.
“I don’t know what happened. But I got your history of Mississippi. And the history tells me: black boy (who) goes out with three white kids. Three white kids come back. There’s a blurred story on what happened,” Sharpton said during the National Association of Black Journalists’ conference on August 13.
On Friday, attorneys representing three of Wells’s friends — Morgan Seymour, Jax Pitalo and Warren Hudson — sent Sharpton a presuit letter accusing the minister of making defamatory remarks about what they described as “completely innocent young men.”
Nolan Wells, 18, disappeared while on a Fourth of July boating trip with his friends off the Mississippi Gulf Coast before he was later found dead
Wells’s death has drawn national attention and speculation about whether race played a role, as he was the only black person on the boat
Civil rights activist Al Sharpton has been threatened with a lawsuit by three of Wells’s friends for comments the minister made that allegedly defamed them. Sharpton is pictured with Wells’s mother and attorney Ben Crump
A presuit letter aims to resolve a potential legal conflict before going to court. The 19-page document said: ‘Warren, Jax, and Morgan hereby formally demand that you apologize for, retract, and delete every false and defamatory statement about them.’
The sharply worded letter further stated: ‘Smearing the reputation of innocent young men mourning the loss of their friend to score cheap political points will prove far easier than explaining yourself under oath.
‘Indeed, you will find dealing with us to be an altogether different experience than indulging in a slanderous rampage applauded by the fawning sycophants in the echo chamber of your inner circle.’
The friends’ attorneys claimed that Sharpton’s comments implied Seymour, Pitalo and Hudson committed three felonies, including murder, hindering prosecution and evidence tampering.
The lawyers argue that the implication constitutes defamation per se under Mississippi law.
The presuit letter demands that Sharpton issue public verbal and written apologies stating that his comments were false, and demands that the minister stop repeating them.
‘Should you not apologize, retract, and delete your defamatory statements within 10 days of the date you are served with this letter, litigation will become necessary,’ the attorneys wrote in the letter.
The presuit letter came about one week after Sharpton said he welcomed litigation from the families of Nolan’s friends at the National Association of Black Journalists’ conference.
Wells’s parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, have challenged the accounts given by their son’s friends about what happened on the day he died
Sharpton said he welcomed litigation from the families of Wells’s friends at the National Association of Black Journalists conference on August 13. He is pictured speaking at the event
‘The parents of the guys that were with him started talking about they was gonna sue us for getting involved,’ the minister said on August 13.
‘I don’t even know the kid’s name, so you can’t say I defamed your son. I don’t know your son’s name. But I will say this on this stage: I want them to sue me first, and I’ll tell you why… I want to depose your son. If you sue, the plaintiffs are deposed,’ he added.
Sharpton stuck to his guns after receiving the presuit letter, which also stated: ‘You asked for it, and now you got it.’
In a response to the letter, the minister said: ‘I welcome the lawsuit and will have my attorneys be in touch with theirs to arrange for them to serve me so we can get in court.’
The presuit letter also dismissed questions raised by Sharpton during media interviews and press conferences, including why Wells would leave his phone behind, why he did not have his keys and speculation that content from the teen’s phone was erased.
The attorneys said that none of the friends touched Wells’s phone or tampered with it and that they never concealed his keys.
Hudson, Pitalo and Seymour similarly defended themselves during an interview with YouTuber Brandon Tatum earlier this month, during which Hudson said: ‘I wish we would have never went out.’
Hudson also described Wells as being like a brother to the group and rejected claims that his death was racially motivated.
Wells’s friends have rejected claims that his death was racially motivated and said he was like a brother to the group
Warren Hudson (pictured with his parents), questioned why he and the others would have contacted authorities on the day Wells died if they had anything to do with it
The friends also addressed speculation that Wells may have been aboard their boat, the Triton, when someone in the group called private marine towing service Sea Tow for help as the vessel began taking on water.
The trio pointed to video showing the boat around the time of the call and said Wells was nowhere in sight.
Hudson and Pitalo also questioned why they would have contacted Sea Tow and later the US Coast Guard if Wells had been dead aboard their vessel.
Although an official autopsy has been completed, the findings have not yet been released. The report will be presented to a grand jury, which is standard practice in the county for deaths not caused by natural causes.
An independent autopsy commissioned by Wells’s family listed his manner and cause of death as undetermined pending further investigation, while finding no evidence of fractures or deep tissue injuries.
However, forensic pathologist Dr Roger Mitchell said a ‘red discoloration’ on the back of Wells’s skull warranted further investigation.
