By admin 
The Rev. Al Sharpton on Tuesday issued a statement describing the demands in an intent to sue letter in connection with the death of Nolan Xavier Wells as “meritless” and said that he will “neither be silenced nor retract statements he did not make.”
Read more Man fatally struck by freight train at Calvine Road rail crossing near Elk Grove
Sharpton was addressing the threat to sue him for defamation by attorneys representing three of the young men with Nolan Xavier Wells before he went missing on the Fourth of July. Wells’ body was found two days later.
Mississippi attorney Tyler Cox represents the three friends — Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo and Morgan Seymour — along with high-profile defamation and media law attorney Edward Andrew Paltzik.
In the intent-to-sue letter sent to Sharpton, the young men’s attorneys allege that Sharpton defamed the trio during a July 14 interview with TMZ and in other remarks he made at other venues in the aftermath of the 18-year-old student-athlete’s death.
The claims included alleged defamatory remarks made during the convention for the National Association of Black Journalists and other remarks during a virtual prayer vigil on the National Action Network on Aug. 19, the day of Wells’ 19th birthday.
Sharpton’s attorneys sent the letter in response to an Aug. 21 demand letter on behalf of three young men — Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo and Morgan Seymour — who threatened to sue the Rev. Al Sharpton for defamation over comments he made about the investigation into the death of Nolan Xavier Wells.
In the 15-page response, Sharpton’s attorneys, led by Daniel P. Watkins of the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Meier Watkins Phillips Pusch LLP, and Wylie Stecklow, a longtime counsel for the National Action Network, said Sharpton never accused the three men of murder or other crimes and has not made defamatory statements about them.
“Reverend Sharpton did not insert himself into this family’s grief. He was asked,” the attorneys wrote. “He is an ordained Baptist minister, and he stands with (Wells’ parents) Christine Wells-Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley in that capacity, as he has stood with families in that capacity for nearly fifty years.”
Sharpton was with the Wonsley family July 10 when they spoke publicly for the first time and later attended their son’s memorial service. He also appeared with them in Atlanta, Georgia, on Aug. 19, what would have been Nolan Wells’ 19th birthday.
Since then, the attorneys said, Sharpton has remained in continuous contact with the family and deferred to their judgment.
Sharpton addresses the calls for him to retract statements he had made that the young men’s attorneys referred to as defamatory statements.
“It is worth stating plainly what the letter asks,” the attorneys said in the letter.
“It asks Reverend Sharpton to apologize to three young men for having asked why an eighteen-year-old died,” the response said. “It asks him to retract questions that Nolan’s own mother raised on national television four days before he repeated them. It asks him to delete a prayer vigil.”
The response also noted that the three young men launched a public fundraising campaign, gave recorded interviews, publicly criticized Nolan’s mother and released private communications to the media.
The letter also warns that if the young men’s attorneys were involved in creating, approving, publishing or promoting the accusations against Sharpton, he is prepared to sue Taylor and Cox Law Firm.
Meanwhile, the letter said, Nolan’s family has not asked Sharpton to stop speaking out.
“This is not going to distract us from the question that brought us here: What happened to Nolan Wells?” Rev. Sharpton said. “His parents buried their 18-year-old son without knowing how or why he died. They asked me to stand with them, and I will continue to stand with them until they get the answers they deserve.”
Sharpton’s attorneys argued that “there is no legal remedy for the fact that Rev. Sharpton’s questions are uncomfortable.”
There is a legal remedy for defamation, they said, but “it requires a defamatory statement,” and the Aug. 21 demand letter does not identify one.
Read more Man fatally struck by freight train at Calvine Road rail crossing near Elk Grove
“The threatened claims suffer from several basic defects,” the response said, arguing that they rely on statements Sharpton did not make and interpretations supplied by the attorneys for the three young men.
Sharpton’s lawyers said the demand letter instead argues that his words “create an effect on the listener” from which accusations of criminal conduct can be inferred.
“That formulation is revealing,” the response said. “The accusation on which the threatened claims depend is not contained in Reverend Sharpton’s words. It is supplied by counsel through inference.”
The attorneys said Mississippi law does not allow a defamation claim to be based on such an inference.
“The defamatory meaning must arise clearly and unmistakably from the publication itself; it cannot be manufactured through innuendo, speculation, or conjecture,” the response said.
Sharpton’s lawyers also accused the attorneys of taking his comments out of context.
The Aug. 21 demand letter quoted Sharpton asking whether “these three young men” had been brought in for questioning under oath. The three have been interviewed by investigators.
Sharpton’s attorneys said, however, that the demand letter omitted questions he immediately asked about whether law enforcement had conducted fingerprint and forensic analysis of Nolan’s cellphone and his criticism of the police investigation.
Sharpton’s remarks, the letter said, were part of a broader series of questions about the investigation into Wells’ death, including why authorities had not immediately retrieved Nolan’s cellphone and keys and whether witnesses had been thoroughly questioned.
“Read in context, these were criticisms of the investigation,” the response said. “They do not become accusations of murder merely because the Letter removes that context.”
In addition, the letter points out that if the young men proceed with filing the lawsuit, Sharpton will pursue his own financial and legal remedies, which could include seeking damages and attorneys’ fees.
The attorneys also point out that Sharpton’s statements were made in New York, including those during the July 14 interview and at a prayer service he held on Wells’ 19th birthday.
If the young men proceed with the lawsuit, Sharpton’s attorneys warned that he will seek its dismissal “at the earliest available stage” and invoke New York’s legal protections for speech involving what they described as “matters of public concern.”
In the letter, Sharpton’s attorneys added, “He will seek every dollar of recoverable fees and costs,” as well as any potential compensatory and punitive damages.
The attorneys also referenced the Mississippi Litigation Accountability Act and Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 11, which allow courts to award reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs when litigation is brought or maintained without substantial justification.
Sharpton also made statements regarding Wells’ death during another appearance in August, this time in Georgia. His attorneys said he would invoke Georgia’s legal protections and seek any available financial and legal remedies related to those claims as well.
This story was originally published September 1, 2026 at 6:00 AM with the headline “Exclusive: Sharpton fires back, says he won’t be silenced over Nolan Wells’ death.”
Read more The Bee’s Top 25: SFL teams go 6-0 as Folsom survives and Oak Ridge wins in Texas