Native American Activist Nathan Phillips: Covington Catholic Students Harassed Black Protesters

The Native American activist who appeared to be mocked by Kentucky high school students Friday, during a Washington, D.C. march, reportedly said that they had a “mob mentality” and were harassing black protesters. Omaha elder Nathan Phillips told Detroit Free Press that this incident at the Indigenous Peoples March, which now-viral video seems to show Covington Catholic High School students taunting him and other participants, “was scary.” According to Phillips, these students, who had attended the anti-abortion March for Life that same day, became upset while watching the Black Hebrew Israelites make speeches. More and more Covington students arrived and were then “in the process of attacking these four black individuals.” Phillips claimed some Black Hebrew members did grow heated and that one spit toward the students, prompting him to step between them, but said the blame fell on these students. “I'm a Marine Corps veteran and I know what that mob mentality can be like...the looks in these young men's faces...” The school and Archdiocese of Covington condemned the behavior in a statement Saturday, saying it's “opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person.” One student appeared to complain on Twitter that the “true story is quite different.”