Posted on 01/20/2019 9:38:33 PM PST by yesthatjallen
The Catholic high school student at the center of a viral controversy claimed on Sunday that reports about his apparent confrontation with a Native American man have been filled with "misinformation" and "outright lies."
CNN's Jake Tapper posted a letter from the student, identified as Nick Sandmann from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, explaining the incident.
"I am providing this factual account of what happened on Friday afternoon at the Lincoln Memorial to correct misinformation and outright lies being spread about my family and me," Sandmann wrote in the letter.
His explanation comes after a video clip passed around social media showing him standing and smiling in front of a Native American protester as some of his Catholic high school peers in the background jeer. Several of the students in the video are wearing "Make America Great Again" hats.
Reports about the video prompted the Diocese of Covington to condemn the students and apologize for their behavior.
Sandmann in the letter wrote that he was "singled out" and approached by the Native American man, who has been identified as Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder.
"The protestor everyone has seen in the video began playing his drum as he waded into the crowd, which parted for him," Sandmann wrote. "I did not see anyone try to block his path. He locked eyes with me and approached me, coming within inches of my face. He played his drum the entire time he was in my face."
"I never interacted with this protester," he continued. "I did not speak to him. To be honest, I was startled and confused as to why he had approached me. We had already been yelled at by another group of protestors."
Though some reports have claimed that the students were cheering "build the wall" at Phillips and the other Native American protesters, Sandmann said he did not hear comments like that.
Phillips gave a contradictory account to The Washington Post, saying "that guy in the hat stood in my way and we were at an impasse."
"It was getting ugly, and I was thinking: ‘I’ve got to find myself an exit out of this situation and finish my song at the Lincoln Memorial,’ ” Phillips told the Washington Post. “I started going that way, and that guy in the hat stood in my way and we were at an impasse. He just blocked my way and wouldn’t allow me to retreat.”
Some public figures and lawmakers have weighed in on the viral video, with many claiming the students are racist and disrespectful.
Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) condemned the group of students for displaying "blatant hate, disrespect, and intolerance."
Multiple outlets have written up comments from Sandmann's mother after she blamed the incident on a group of "black Muslims."
Sandmann in the letter wrote that the confrontation began when a group of African-American protesters started hassling the group of students wearing "MAGA" hats.
"When we arrived, we noticed four African-American protestors who were also on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial," Sandmann wrote. "The protesters said hateful things. They called us 'racists,' 'bigots,' 'white crackers,' 'faggots' and 'incest kids.'" He wrote that the students responded with a school chant of their own.
Then, Sandmann said, the Native American protesters approached the group of Covington High School students.
"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.
Reason, a libertarian magazine, in an article on Sunday reported that full-length footage of the event shows Phillips placed himself between the students and the African-American protesters, who appeared to be yelling at the students.
He'll soon be listed on Fake Hate Crimes.org:
This young man needs a GoFundMe...
I read the Injun was also at the pipeline protests. Busy guy. He gets aggrieved a lot.
He was at an Occupy Stinkfest too.
I hope Trump brings the boys on to the White House
Give them a personal tour, and lay out a spread of Chik-Fil-A sammiches and waffle fries.
Sign MAGA hats and pray with them.
Make the Lunatic Left show their asses once again
Everyone needs to call the school AND the Diocese’s offices. We need to melt their switchboards with angry calls DEMANDING they apologize and rescind any punitive actions they have taken against the students. The Left is already organizing intimidation protests against them.
I say they Diocese provides them all scholarships for college on their dime.
The narrative has been set.
Wasn’t it democrats who stole land from the Indians to begin with? Promising them all kinds of htigns, then never carrying through with their promises? Now all of a sudden the left are advocates for Indians?
+1
I’d gladly send DJT a donation for the event!
But this is an excellent case study in how the MSM got it wrong by listening to and reporting only one side of the story without any verification.
There are many videos that establish the facts.
The MSM cannot get away with this one. There is too much evidence to prove they believed and reported a false narrative.
Don’t be fooled. There is a full court press by the left on this.
The difference here is we have many videos to prove the original story was misleading.
It also shows the media didn't verify any of the 'facts' they reported and instead relied on one side for their reports.
Because of their irresponsible 'reporting' some of the kids and their families are in danger from any radial leftist.
It's easy to see how the mother or their sons got it wrong and that's a shame because it will now become part of the false 'narrative' and a senseless distraction which the left will use to their advantage.
The kid and parents have received death threats. The mayor has come out against the students. Thankfully, Rep. Massie said the parents should be proud not ashamed of their sons behavior and he is proud to represent them. He watched all the videos. The voice of reason.
Remember the Great White Father in Washington from the movies?
What an absolute POS this guy Haaland is.
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