Thread by @kittencaboodle7

My final(ish) take on the #CovingtonCatholic debacle. PREPARE YOURSELF! Part 1 -- THE INCIDENT

Even watching the full, 2 hour video does not exonerate those boys. People who want them to be innocent point to it as: "They were provoked."

The student's mother came out with: "Those black muslims made those boys act that way." Here's where I call bull.

independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

First of all, they weren't "black muslims," they were member of the Black Hebrew Israelites sect, a rather extremist group based in Black Judaism. As someone said: "If you're from the hood, you know to ignore them."

Claiming they were "black muslims" actually was a racist dogwhistle that shows quite a bit about how these kids were/are raised. It's similar to the dogwhistle of finding "prayer rugs" in the desert at the border.

nytimes.com/2019/01/18/us/…

It's a way to unite racists in fear of vague "terrorism". This is also where I point out that @arlenparsa thread where we discover that this super expensive, super elite school in KY has a diversity problem.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1086985…

He spoke to one FORMER student from that school of Middle Eastern descent. I would bet you can guess what happened to that student. To quote: "He got bullied and called a "terrorist." It got so bad he had to transfer schools."

Back to the BHI group. There were five of them. Yes, they were saying offensive things. That's what they do. To compare, look at Westboro Baptist Church. Every religion has their hate groups, right? And, in fact, they were equal opportunity jerks.

They insulted the boys, they insulted the Native Americans, they insulted women, they insulted men, but the group of teen boys was the one who started getting involved. The excuse here is generally: "Well, boys will be boys." First of all, no, but more on that later.

Second of all, where were the chaperones and parents? In what world does ANYONE who has either been a teen or interacted with teens think that leaving them alone for that long in that big of a group is a good idea? If I were a CCH parent, that would horrify me.

And, that two hour video shows why. They get rowdier and more daring, egged on by their friends and the mob mentality.

First the kid who tossed the water bottle into the middle of the street preachers, and then the kid who stomped down the stairs to remove his shirt, that signified a turn in the group. They were getting pumped up, full of adrenaline, and things were going to escalate.

And that's where Nathan Phillips comes in. The former Marine sees a group of 40 white teens working themselves up into a frenzy against a group of 5 (FIVE) black street preachers.

NO ONE is taking charge of these kids. And Phillips puts himself in between them. He marches his group between the black guys (who had insulted them and called them names earlier) and the kids.

He intends to march through them, disrupt the energy, and defuse the situation, and end his march at the base of the Lincoln Memorial. This is where the other videos are important.

He does march through them, the boys initially part for his group, even while mocking and jeering the man. That lasts until, as seen in one of the videos, Nicholas Sandmann is nudged in the path.

Sandmann, I think, was probably surprised to be put in that position, but when you watch the video, you can see when he decides to take advantage of the mob support and stand there, blocking Phillips from going further.

Despite the statement released by the PR firm, Sandmann's attitude isn't one of polite surprise. He's now egged on by his peers who are mocking the Native American chant and doing tomahawk motions.

At this point, the group of boys surrounds Nathan and his group. Nathan continues playing, he doesn't press forward because, as he said in an interview, it would have put him in Sandmann's space. It would have provoked a physical response. So he continues playing.

There was an excellent take on the body language of the boys during that time that I can't find anymore. They knew what they were doing was wrong, but they had come too far to stop.

Sandmann looks back, draws strength from the mob behind him, and doesn't move. If he moves, he's shown his crowd that he's weak, but he's not entirely comfortable with the position he's been put in. And he shouldn't have been, but, again, WHERE WERE THE CHAPERONES?

Now, Phillips was successful in that he threw off the energy between the boys and the street preachers. The situation could have been much different and much more violent.

Phillips is a hero because he put himself in the middle of a mob of teen boys to prevent further violence. He's the truly Christian acting person here.

I can't believe I am going to do this to myself, but @threadreaderapp unroll please