[ad_1]
Breaking News E-mails
Receive last minute alerts and special reports. News and stories that matter, broadcast in the morning on weekdays.
From Alex Johnson
The young man at the center of what has been described as a hostile confrontation with an elder of the Omaha tribe denounced what was wrong. he called "outright lies" "On Sunday, he stated that he was actually trying to stay calm to defuse the tense situation.
" I am the student in the video that was confronted with the Native American protester, "said the young man Nick Sandmann, a Covington junior.A Catholic high school in Covington, Kentucky, said in a statement issued by his family through the intermediary of a corporation
(Warning: vulgar language.)
This widely circulated video shows young men, many wearing Make. America's Great Again hats, appearing to be surrounding a Native American troupe while she's performing a song about strength and courage during the March of Indigenous Peoples in Washington on Friday afternoon.
Sandmann became the face of apparent confrontation, smiling silently one foot away. or two of the face of Nathan Phillips, a veteran of the Vietnam War and a leading activist for the causes of indigenous peoples.
Critics have called the young man a sneer and try to look Phillips in the face. But other, longer videos complicated the story, suggesting that a separate group of people were making fun of the incident recorded on the most widely broadcast video.
Sandmann said Sunday that when his group arrived at the Lincoln Memorial, the site of the March of Indigenous Peoples, on Friday, he heard "four African American protesters" who, he said, led " derogatory insults to our school group ".
"They also provoked an African-American student at my school saying that we were going to" harvest his organs, "said Sandmann." I have no idea what this insult means, but that was surprising to hear. "
Sandmann stated that with the permission of a professor who acted as a chaperone, he was beginning to lead the group of students in singing spiritual "to counter the hateful words that were shouted against our group. "
After a few minutes, native protesters began to approach, he said," accompanied by at least one person with a camera. "
Referring to Phillips, Sandmann said:" I have never had any interaction with this protester. I did not talk to him. I did not make any gestures or aggressive gestures. To be honest, I was surprised and confused as to why he had approached me. We already had another group of protesters shouting after and when the second group approached, I was afraid adults were trying to provoke teenagers.
"I thought that by staying motionless and calm, I was helping to spread the situation," he said. "I got Everybody had cameras and maybe a group of adults was trying to provoking a group of teenagers in a larger conflict.I did a silent prayer so that the situation does not escalate. "
Sandmann, who claimed to have received death threats, vehemently asserted that He was a racist, stating, "I am mortified that so many people came to believe that something did not happen – that students in my school were chanting or acting in a racist way towards African Americans or Native Americans. "
" I did not do it, I do not have hateful feelings in my heart and I have none of my comrades doing that, "did he he said, adding, "I read that Mr. Phillips was a United States Marine Veteran. I thank him for his n service and I thank all those who wear the uniform to defend our country. If anyone has earned the right to speak freely, he's a veteran of the US Navy. "
Earlier in the day, Covington Catholic High School and the Catholic Diocese of Covington, near Cincinnati, had rejected any shady area condemning the" actions "of students at Covington Catholic High School towards Nathan Phillips in particular and Amerindians in general. "
" The investigation is under way and we will take the appropriate measures, including deportation, "the diocese and the school said in a joint statement.
The diocese and the school declare that the students are in Washington to attend the March for Life, an important anti-abortion rally, and deplore that this incident "sullied all the witnesses of the March for the life".
They said that they presented "our sincere apologies to all those who attended the march and to all those who support the pro-life movement".
In a letter addressed to parents before the parade, Covington Catholic High School said n 200 students attended the same anti-abortion rally last year, accompanied by parents of students.
Sandmann's statement Sunday would be the first statement that the group was accompanied by escorts during Friday's incident. Phillips and others wondered why there did not seem to be a stronger adult presence to intervene while the apparent confrontation was infecting without intervention.
Phillips said Sunday in an interview with Joy Reid of MSNBC that he was just trying to do it, claiming that he had approached the young men after seeing them walking with a group They are called the Hebrew Black Israelites, an informal association made up mostly of people of Black African descent who claim to be descendants of biblical Israelites.
But instead of listening, Phillips said, some of the young men began to express their support for President Donald Trump. proposal to build a wall along the US-Mexican border – "chants of" building the wall "and other things that were even worse."
Phillips says youth chapero Soldiers should be fired.
"Where were they, how did they get these students to get to this point after an hour, were they with them, was it to encourage them?", Ask- there.
Meanwhile, Covington mayor Joe Meyer expresses frustration at the fact that the incident is related to his city, noting that Covington Catholic High School is actually located in nearby Park Hills not in Covington.
"But that's not the question," Meyer writes in an opinion piece offered to newspapers and published on the city's website.
"The fact is, because of the actions of the inhabitants, In northern Kentucky, our region must once again examine our identities, our values and our fundamental beliefs," wrote Meyer. "No matter the city in which we live, we must ask ourselves if such behavior represents what we are and what we are looking for to be.is this what our schools teach? it is beliefs that we, parents, accept and defend
"Is this how we want the rest of the nation and the world to see us?"
"In response, let me, as mayor of Covington – d & rsquo; To be absolutely clear: no. "
Source link
