A Florida jury found CNN liable for defaming a security consultant featured in a 2021 report on the exorbitant fees being demanded on the black market to evacuate Afghans during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal.

A Florida jury found CNN liable on Friday in a high-stakes defamation trial against U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young, who alleged that the network maligned him as an “illegal profiteer” with a report on Afghan evacuees being charged thousands of dollars to flee the country following the U.

Lawyers on both sides delivered impassioned closing arguments on Thursday as Zachary Young’s high-profile defamation lawsuit against CNN heads to the jury.

The jury will resume deliberations Friday in a defamation trial at the Bay County Courthouse between CNN and a former U.S. government operative.

A Florida jury on Friday morning put itself into position to deliver money justice to a U.S. Navy veteran who was defamed by CNN during a broadcast. The post ‘Stood up to fake news’: CNN liable for defaming Navy veteran to the tune of at least $5 million — with additional liability for punitive damages to come later first appeared on Law & Crime.

Zachary Young alleged CNN smeared him by implying he illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan on the "black market" during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021.

The Florida case centers on coverage of a Navy veteran who helped with Afghanistan evacuation, but has broader implications for media industry.

CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt defended his story on Zachary Young, a security consultant who charged $14,000 or more to evacuate people from Afghanistan.

CNN will have to fork over at least $5 million to a U.S. Navy veteran after it lost a defamation trial in Florida on Friday. A Panama City, Florida, jury ruled that CNN had defamed security contractor Zachary Young when it aired a 2021 report that said he was part of a “black market” that price-gouged those attempting to flee Afghanistan after the U.

After about eight and a half hours of deliberation, jurors reached a verdict that CNN did defame a former U.S. government operative.