Smiling Teen Denies Harassing Activist
An American high school student – who, in viral video footage, appeared to be confronting a Native American activist while wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) cap – has denied that he and his fellow pupils harassed the activist.
Nick Sandmann, a student of Covington Catholic High School in northern Kentucky, and his peers had been attending a rally in Washington on Friday, 18 January, when the incident occurred.
In the video, Sandmann is seen standing face-to-face with activist Nathan Phillips, also a Vietnam War veteran. While Phillips sings and plays a drum, the teenager is seen smiling at him while his peers – also wearing MAGA caps – appear to be taunting the activist.
In response to the backlash, Sandmann released a statement, which reads: “I never interacted with [Phillips]. I did not speak to him. I did not make any hand gestures or other aggressive moves. To be honest, I was startled and confused as to why he had approached me.”
He added: “I believed that by remaining motionless and calm, I was helping to diffuse [sic] the situation.”
Image: A viral video appears to show teens mocking Native American participating in the Indigenous People’s March in Washington. [online image] (2019) sourced on 21 January 2019 from: https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/190119194820-maga-teens-native-american-march-large-169.jpg
