Thread by @andrewkimmel

Some thoughts to the Covington Catholic student’s statement:

1) Those of us who saw the full video can see & hear the small group of Black Hebrew Israelites saying horrible things towards the kids. Who started that conversation? It appears BOTH SIDES (sorry) were engaging

2) Yes – we can see Nathan Phillips was the one who walked towards the students, and as he mentioned, was a way to defuse the situation. However, the idea that a 64-year-old man walking a snail's pace and banging a drum is intimidating or is a threat is a crock.

3) The student says he was “confronted” by the Native American protester. And that they were being “loudly attacked and taunted in public.” Right. In that case, the chaperones failed in safely moving the children elsewhere on the 164 acres that the Lincoln Memorial takes up.

4) The student continues saying someone “asked one of our teacher chaperones for permission to begin our school spirit chants to counter the hateful things that were being shouted.” Ok. Hard to dispute, but why the hell would a student ask permission to do a school chant?

5) In stating this, they are trying to completely absolve any wrongdoing – in this case with the chant, which could be seen as aggressive.

6) “I was startled & confused as to why he had approached me. We had already been yelled at by another group of protestors, and when the second group approached I was worried that a situation was getting out of control where adults were attempting to provoke teenagers.” Bullshit.

7) The students are seen visibly laughing as Phillips approached. They were not threatened in ANY way by him.

8) "I believed that by remaining motionless & calm, I was helping to diffuse the situation… perhaps a group of adults was trying to provoke a group of teenagers into a larger conflict. I said a silent prayer that the situation would not get out of hand.” Bullshit.

9) “…a member of the protestor's entourage began yelling at a fellow student that we "stole our land" and that we should "go back to Europe."I heard one of my fellow students begin to respond. I motioned to my classmate and tried to get him to stop engaging with the protestor.."

10) "... I was still in the mindset that we needed to calm down tensions.”

Got it. So the students tomahawking are the peacemakers.

11) “I did smile at one point because I wanted him to know that I was not going to become angry, intimidated or be provoked into a larger confrontation.”

Bullshit. You smiled because you thought it was funny and your friends smiled and laughed for the same reason.

12) “I believe he should re-think his tactics of invading the personal space of others, but that is his choice to make.” You want to tell a Native American to re-think his tactics of invading “personal space”. First off – no.

13) Phillips walked up in a non-threatening way, singing a prayer while hitting a drum. If he was in your personal space, why didn’t you move? People get in my personal space all the time on the subway or an elevator and if uncomfortable I move somewhere else.

14) “I will not stand for this mob-like character assassination of my family's name.” Sorry you're receiving threats. I tweeted shortly after sharing the clip for people NOT to release names of minors as two names that had been released were not accurate. Doxxing kids is wrong.

15) “I thank him for his service & am grateful to anyone who puts on the uniform to defend our nation." That is very kind of you to say, but your actions were a blatant sign of disrespect & this paragraph sounds like it was written by your dad… or an attorney to drum up sympathy

16) “…I would caution everyone passing judgement based on a few seconds of video to watch the longer video clips.” I’ve watched all the clips. It doesn’t change the fact you stared this man down like he was a joke. With your students hysterically laughing and tomahawking at him.

17) You can clearly hear a student say, “Land gets stolen. That’s how it works. It’s the way of the world.” That is not appropriate. That is not respect. That is pure white privilege.

18) Getting the opportunity to say you did nothing wrong and having outlets print your statement IN FULL without any context (@cnn) is white privilege. Had you been a group of black teens who did this, would the response have been the same?

19) Nothing in the student’s entire statement recognized the indigenous struggle or that an apology is due. It was a legal statement as per the account of a high school student & likely written by an attorney. The statement is a whitewashing of the incident that occurred.

20) In wearing a MAGA hat in public, you must own the responsibility that comes with it. For many, it represents violence, hatred, misogyny, and more. You have the freedom to wear it. That is your choice. But know that hat is seen by many as a threat to their very existence.

21) No surprise here, but it appears the only people who believe what I stated above to be untrue... are WHITE. I urge you all to read the comments that follow that tweet.

22) Many have responded to me saying that celebrities and journalists have called for the death of the students. I have yet to see those tweets. Please send them to me. AGAIN, I believe doxxing/threatening kids is wrong. Some exceptions: Ethan Couch, baby Hitler, Dylann Roof...

23) Watching and reading journalists/outlets succumb to the right wing narrative of this is no surprise. The full video does little to change the fact that this was exactly as it seemed - white students jeered, tomahawked, and mocked an indigenous elder. <END OF THREAD>