Recently, a clip of teens wearing MAGA hats mocking a group of Native Americans at the March for Life in Washington went viral. While the clip does reveal a specific teenage boy wearing a smug look on his face and glaring at a tribe member, could there possibly be more to the story?
The answer: yes there is more to the story, especially since this clip comes from a video that spans about two hours long.
In the initial clip, a large group of boys from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky are seen enclosing tribal member and former Marine Nathan Philips. One student, Nick Sandmann, stares down Philips with a smile as the former veteran chants while playing the drums. Many people took the video and laid the blame solely on the students. However, after further analysis, not everything is what it seems in the clip.
The video that the clip originates from includes much more than previously detailed. A third party who were not even mentioned in the brief outtake can be seen and heard shouting nasty comments at both the teens sporting Trump propaganda and the Native Americans which include “a bunch of demons” and “Uncle Tomahawk.” Witnesses who attended the March for Life also said they witnessed one of the Native Americans come up and drum in one boy’s face.
After outrage was sparked from the clip, Sandmann came forward with a statement of his own, saying that he and his fellow students were waiting on their buses so that they could leave. In the process, Philips and other tribal members were shouting hateful statements towards the students, so the students began to repeat their own school’s chant to drown out the comments, and Sandmann said he “harbored no ill will for this person.”
In a situation like this, no one is correct. The teens from Kentucky should not have been mocking these Native Americans in any way, and if they weren’t, many can’t help but question why Sandmann stood so closely with such a smug look on his face to Philips. The third party, the Black Hebrew Israelites, had no business shouting racist and homophobic slurs at both the students and the tribal members. The Native Americans have every right to protest, but similarly to the students and Hebrew Israelites, they have no business to taunt and harass individuals attending a march.
All groups involved are at fault for something, whether it be mocking, taunting or name-calling. Unfortunately, this small clip only presents a small fraction of the issues that took place on the day of the march. Many should investigate the full video to fully comprehend what exactly happened the day the clip was shot.
by Jordan Butler
