New details about a viral video that showed an interaction between white teenagers wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and a Native American elder are leading some people to second-guess their first impression of the encounter.
A student from Kentucky’s all-male Covington Catholic High School, now identified as Nick Sandmann, drew backlash online after a clip emerged Saturday of him smiling and standing close to the face of Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder and Vietnam War veteran participating in the Indigenous Peoples March in D.C. on Friday. In the video of the incident, Sandmann can be seen standing in front of Phillips on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as the Native American elder sings and beats on a drum. Other young people standing close by can be seen chanting as they encircle Phillips and the student.
In response to the widespread media coverage, lawmakers, Native American leaders, and the Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School were quick to condemn Sandmann’s behavior. The school announced it was investigating the situation and said he could be expelled.
But a longer video from a different angle shows that Philips was the one to approach the teenagers, taking a left on a landing along the stairway up the Lincoln Memorial and walking directly into the throng of students.
Furthermore, video shows that long before Phillips arrived on the scene, a small group of Black Hebrew Israelites on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial yelling obscenities at passersbys, including the students who would eventually crowd the area, appear to be the ones who incited the confrontation.
This new information shows a counter-narrative to the one that for more than a day pinned the outrage squarely on the teenagers.
Here is a video clearly showing that Nathan Phillips approached the students. On the basis of the evidence we now have, I believe that people who issued categorical and one-sided condemnations of the students should retract and apologize. pic.twitter.com/GxmXcMuQgC
— Matthew Schmitz (@matthewschmitz) January 20, 2019
The extended video shows the group of roughly five men reported to be Black Hebrew Israelites yelling at a small gathering of nearby Covington Catholic High School, calling them “a bunch of incest babies” and saying they “worship blasphemy,” among other taunts. The men also said the teenagers show how “this is what America — ‘Make America Great’ looks like” — a reference to President Trump’s “Make American Great Again” slogan.
As the men continue to taunt the students, the crowd grows and starts chanting when one of them takes their shirt off. Minutes later Phillips arrives on the scene with his drum. – READ MORE