5 facts on Covington Catholic School boys, Nathan Phillips and Hebrew Israelites
2. Innocent teen forced to defend himself
Considerable commentary swirled around one particular student, 16-year-old high school junior Nicholas Sandmann, who stood silently before Phillips as he was beating his drum in his face.
As a result of the jeers from the Black Hebrews, one of the students in the group said he asked one of the teacher chaperones for permission to start a school spirit chant to counter the slurs that were being shouted at them, Sandmann explained in a statement to the press, noting that it was they, not his classmates, who instigated the incident.
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"They also taunted an African-American student from my school by telling him that we would 'harvest his organs.' I have no idea what that insult means, but it was startling to hear," Sandmann said.
"I never interacted with this protester. I did not speak to him," he said of Phillips. "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. 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."
Sandmann followed up his statement, maintaining he did nothing wrong in an interview with the "Today" show Wednesday, saying he respected Phillips and wanted to talk with him, and that his high school does not tolerate racism.
"In hindsight, I wish we could have walked away and avoided the whole thing," he said, "but I can't say that I'm sorry for listening to him and standing there."
He added that he heard no one saying "build the wall," referring to a wall on the southern U.S. border, something many supporters of President Trump want to see happen.
