A Catholic archdiocese outside Cincinnati is investigating the actions of some of its high school students during the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington Friday.
NBC News and other media report some students wearing Make America Great Again hats and clothing appeared to surround and may have taunted a Native American troupe as it performed the "American Indian Movement" song about strength and courage. It's not clear which of those young people surrounding the Native Americans are students of Covington Catholic High School in Covington, Kentucky. There appears to have been jeering by another group of people preceding the incident caught on video.
But the Diocese of Covington criticized any students who participated in the action, which broke out as a group from the school was in Washington for the anti-abortion event March for Life.
Its statement, forwarded by archdiocese spokeswoman Laura Keener, singled out Native American leader Nathan Phillips, a Vietnam War veteran and Omaha elder. In social media videos of the incident Phillips can be seen singing as a male taunts him smilingly and gets close to his face.
The teen at the center of a video confrontation with a Native American organizer of a march in Washington, D.C., says he did nothing to provoke anyone and sought to calm the situation.
The Associated Press is reporting the student identified himself in an email Sunday evening as junior Nick Sandmann of Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky. An official working with the family confirmed Sandmann’s identity.
Sandmann says students were waiting at the Lincoln Memorial for buses to return to Kentucky on Friday when four African-American protesters there began insulting them.
"We condemn the actions of the Covington Catholic High School students towards Nathan Phillips specifically, and Native Americans in general, Jan. 18, after the March for Life, in Washington, D.C.," the archdiocese's statement reads. "We extend our deepest apologies to Mr. Phillips. This behavior is opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person."
The archdiocese said the matter was under investigation and students could be expelled.
However, new video that circulated on social media Sunday appeared to show a Native American adult approached the students and instigated the interaction, leading some commentators to retract their previous criticisms of the students, reports Fox 59 Indianapolis.
This unedited video (with the original sound) is indisputable proof that the Native American man approached the Catholic school kids pic.twitter.com/cFi0qRYDg2— PolishPatriot™️ (@PolishPatriotTM) January 20, 2019
Both the March for Life, a demonstration against abortion, and the Indigenous Peoples March, in support of Native Americans, were being held not far from one another.
Footage posted online showed one student wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat standing face-to-face with Nathan Phillips, a 64-year-old Omaha elder and Vietnam War veteran. Phillips was singing and playing the drum while the unidentified student stared him in the face.
These adult men approached these students doing school cheers waiting for their bus. The adult man targets the boy and gets in his face and beats the drum. The media portrayed this as a demonstration by native Americans that young white trump supporters targeted. Totally false.— Jeffrey Vause (@jeffvause) January 20, 2019
Another student gave this account on Instagram:
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