The Catholic high school student whose filmed confrontation with an elderly Native American man went viral said Sunday that he had been unfairly represented in the video.
In a letter to CNN, Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann claimed that “outright lies” and “misinformation” have falsely colored reports about his Friday altercation with Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder, at the first annual Indigenous Peoples March in Washington, D.C.
The video, which was widely circulated on social media, showed a crush of male teenagers in red Make America Great Again hats and Covington apparel circling and jeering at Phillips. Sandmann stands in the center of the crowd smirking and appears to block the older man’s path.
The incident was criticized by Democratic lawmakers and by the Diocese of Covington, which promised to investigate and “take appropriate action” against the students.
In his letter, Sandmann said that he and his friends were approached by a group of Native American protesters and that he was “singled out” by Phillips.
“He locked eyes with me and approached me, coming within inches of my face,” Sandmann said. “He played his drum the entire time he was in my face.”
“I am being called every name in the book, including a racist, and I will not stand for this moblike character assassination of my family’s name,” Sandmann wrote.
The smile on his face was intended, Sandmann said, to let Phillips know “that I was not going to become angry, intimidated or be provoked into a larger confrontation.”
Sandmann claimed that the altercation started when a group of African-American protesters began heckling the teens for their “racist” MAGA hats.
According to CNN, another video that circulated Sunday showed members of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement mocking the teens, who were visiting from Kentucky for the March for Life. Some of the men can be heard calling the students “crackers” and “incest children.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper shared Sandmann’s full letter on Twitter.
Just in: Statement of Nick Sandmann, Covington Catholic High School junior, about the event at the Lincoln Memorial: pic.twitter.com/PkuMh2cVZM
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 20, 2019
Who is jeering and mocking the man with the drum? Do they look like they are respectfully trying to help? Most people don’t feel fear when others are trying to help them. This is what you get from the Red Hats. Lies. That is what you do anytime you need to, lie. So what if it’s totally implausible, just lie.
Sorry, I still don’t but the little bastard’s “press release”. Something stinks at his Christomadrassa…
MAGA hats. Sure… they are just nice kids.
We have all seen that look. Entitled self-centered asshole prick.
Who’re you going to believe, the Veteran Native American elder, or the privileged HS kid in the MAGA hat standing unmoving way inside anyone’s comfort zone smirking and maintaining constant eye contact for several minutes?
Nathan Phillips, the Native American who tried to calm a confrontation, has asked who is bringing these boys up that they are OK with behaving this way? Ms. Sandmann, mother of the smirker, says the confrontation was the fault of the “Black Muslims” who were also in the crowd. Actually they’re “Black Israelites,” so her faulty identification is very telling. That group of five was more than obnoxious (see the video on Josh’s editor’s blog), but that doesn’t excuse the boys’ subsequent behavior-laughing, jeering, hopping, chopping, taunting, sneering. Mom gives us a pretty vital clue as to who is bringing these boys up and why they behave as they do.
Let’s give some props to Covington Catholic High School. Their students’ persuasive letter writing skills are way above average, although that doesn’t make their claims true. My takeaway is that Covington Catholic High School is incubating a whole class, or even school, of Brett Kavanaughs - entitled brats who believe their whims and wants trump all others, and any behavior they care to exhibit is their god given right. May we guess that alcohol/substance consumption and sexual predation is the primo leisure time activity among these boys? I don’t doubt it for a minute. Even for the excellent writing skills I wouldn’t have a kid of mine anywhere near Covington Catholic High School. They may teach religion, but they sure don’t practice it.