[Note: This post has been updated to reflect new information.]
A disturbing video went viral Saturday, featuring a flock of teenagers, mostly white and male and wearing MAGA hats, mocking and attempting to intimidate a group of Native Americans who, as per Time, were taking part in the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington D.C. on Friday.
The video in question shows the students interacting with one protestor in particular, later identified as Nathan Phillips, a Vietnam vet from Omaha, Nebraska. Phillips is playing drums, taking part in a chant, all while the students tried to yell over. One student got close to him, a smile frozen on his face.
The students were later identified as members of Covington Catholic High School, an all-male establishment from Park Hills, Kentucky. As per Louisville, Kentucky news station WHAS 11, they had been bussed to D.C. for the anti-abortion March for Life rally.
The indigenous protestors were, as per the march’s website, trying to “bring awareness to the injustices affecting Indigenous men, women, children and two spirits.” In response, Phillips claimed, the students chanted “build that wall!”
ABC 7 reported that the students crowded around the protesters for 10 to 15 minutes, all while people who seemed to be their parents and/or chaperones stood by doing nothing.
Upon further investigation by CNN, it appears the students were verbally attacked by a separate group of Hebrew Israelite protesters. The students started chanting back. Eventually, Phillips said, he and his group tried to intervene, chanting to calm them down. That’s when the altercation between he and the students transpired. [Ed. It was originally reported that the students surrounded Phillips.]
NBC News has published a statement from the student most prominently featured in the video, who claims the reports on the students’ behavior are erroneous.
On Saturday, as the story first broke, the students’ behavior soon set Twitter on fire.
The video of the MAGA kids harassing an indigenous veteran further demonstrate the consequences of having public displays of racism & bigotry sanctioned by the most powerful person in the country. It should disabuse ppl of the notion that such public racism will simply “die out.”
— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) January 19, 2019
A reminder that just 6 days ago, Trump sent a tweet invoking the Wounded Knee Massacre, and repeating the term “Pocahontas” to describe Sen Warren. Gee, I wonder where these MAGA kids learned it from? https://t.co/UtsdkbyqC3
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) January 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/ktumulty/status/1086742294735319043
https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1086686777732186112
https://twitter.com/lulu_says2/status/1086552871674368001
https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/1086691179855400960
Remember the dumbass smug face of that shithead kid in the MAGA hat when he's eventually nominated to the Supreme Court.
— Nima Shirazi (@WideAsleepNima) January 19, 2019
White kids in MAGA hats jeering a Native American Vietnam veteran. This era is just a series of extremely heavy-handed metaphors
— Adam Serwer 🍝 (@AdamSerwer) January 19, 2019
Some pointed out that this kind of behavior is far from new.
https://twitter.com/Rschooley/status/1086700587893157888
👇👇👇👇👇👇 https://t.co/qNuOIa8FlP
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 19, 2019
Others blamed the president’s yen for calling Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahantas.”
Republicans and right-wing media figures who pushed the disgusting Pocahontas stuff encouraged those high school MAGA kids to mock and intimidate Native Americans. You modeled this behavior for teens and they simply followed your lead.
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) January 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/dankennedy_nu/status/1086693006676295680
Rich white kids yelling "Pocahantas", doing the "tomahawk chop" popularized by college and prof sports teams and calling for a wall to be built aren't confused about Native Americans so much as sure their racism is codified and approved of by their people. It's winning strategy.
— Walter Chaw 周瑜 (@mangiotto) January 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/HJBenjamin/status/1086723153622110209
At one point Wall Street Journal reporter Byron Tau tried to fan the flames.
That didn’t go well.
Oddly enough, my high school friends and I never surrounded an elderly veteran and taunted him.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) January 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/4everNeverTrump/status/1086694784956227585
Here for the ratio.
If you think all teenagers behave this way, you are revealing yourself.
They don’t.
— Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath) January 19, 2019
Product of same school:
⚠️TRIGGER WARNING⚠️
“Former Covington Catholic basketball player Jacob Walter pinned a woman down Sunday and raped her until she bled…”
He’s 18 and 7’ tall, 300 lbs.
He choked her and laughed when she pleaded for him to stop.https://t.co/i4cvVa98Me— Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath) January 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/GaryLegum/status/1086690276020813824
Nathan Phillips himself wound up being interviewed about the experience.
https://twitter.com/UncededClothing/status/1086677183458934784
The Native American protestor showed true strength and integrity in the face of bigotry. He was not intimidated or defeated in any way. https://t.co/poUG0ivB8g
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) January 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/rainbowrowell/status/1086669549427220482
This Veteran put his life on the line for our country. The students’ display of blatant hate, disrespect, and intolerance is a signal of how common decency has decayed under this administration. Heartbreaking. https://t.co/NuPnYu9FP4
— Rep. Deb Haaland (@RepDebHaaland) January 19, 2019