A large group of ‘Make America Great Again‘ shithead teens were captured on video harassing a Native American in Washington DC Friday.
In a video posted to YouTube by user KC Noland appears to show a group of teens sporting the MAGA hats mocking Nathan Phillips, a Vietnam veteran and Native American who was performing the American Indian Movement Song ironically on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
One particular visual of the incident that’s standing out is when one of the MAGA asswipes is seen blocking Mr. Phillips with a smug smile his face as the clowns around him continued to mock and harass the Elder.
The image itself is even drawing an unsettling comparison to other racially charged scenes from America’s past.
Look at the faces in the crowds. Different generations, same smug, condescension. Disgusting. We need to get better #maga #Racism pic.twitter.com/ra4zhbnxp0
— Nate Adams (@AtNateAdams) January 19, 2019
Twitter users identified the teens by the logos on their clothing as students of Covington Catholic school in Kentucky who were in Washington for the March for Life taking place this past week. Nathan Phillips on the other hand was attending the Indigenous Peoples March which was happening simultaneous.
As far as the school goes, they’ve received tremendous backlash from the public over the egregious and embarrassing actions of their students. So much so the school has had to make their Twitter page private.
According to the Huffington Post, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington confirmed the teens were from Covington in a statement published Saturday:
“We condemn the actions of the Covington Catholic High School students towards Nathan Phillips specifically, and Native Americans in general,” the statement, obtained by WLTW, said. “The matter is being investigated and we will take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion.”
There also appeared to be at least one student from an Owensboro Catholic School saying on video that “land gets stolen all the time, it’s how it works.”
Here is another infuriating clip from the MAGA mob of kids from #CovingtonCatholic
— Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) January 19, 2019
An indigenous man politely reminds them they are on stolen land and a student responds, “Land gets stolen. That’s how it works. It’s the way of the world.” via @ka_ya11 IG #IndigenousPeoplesMarch pic.twitter.com/SYun9wkzpY
And here’s another look at the mob…
This video of these #MAGA kids tormenting a Vietnam War Veteran should sicken all of us..
— Bob Marsdale (@BobMarsdale) January 19, 2019
Republican, Democrat, Man, Woman, Young or Old….pic.twitter.com/bbUtEedpP9
Video: This is Omaha elder Nathan Phillips, harassed yesterday at the Indigenous People's March by MAGA hat-wearing white high school students from a Kentucky Catholic school who were attending an anti-choice march in D.C. We will cover this on Tuesday's show—be sure to tune in. pic.twitter.com/nbw1pfrtZc
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) January 20, 2019
Saturday, a video was posted of Mr. Phillips’ response which appeared to be recorded Friday after the confrontation.
Thank you to @VinceSchilling of @IndianCountry and many others who identified the proud Native man who is being harassed. He is Mr. Nathan Phillips. I’m reposting this video from “ka_ya11” on IG. This man’s words pierce my heart. The grace. The wisdom. The hope. pic.twitter.com/BKOA40SVq5
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) January 19, 2019
“I heard them saying ‘build that wall, build that wall,’” Phillips said while wiping away tears. “This is indigenous land, you’re not supposed to have walls here. We never did for a millennia. We never had a prison; we always took care of our elders, took care of our children, always provided for them, taught them right from wrong. I wish I could see that energy … put that energy to making this country really, really great.”
You can thank Donald Trump for this
Once again it’s impossible to look past Donald Trump’s bigoted dog whistles and it’s connection to what happened Friday.
Aside from the MAGA hats, Trump’s rhetoric of referring to Senator Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” or hitting another low the other day by referring to Wounded Knee in one of his latest attacks against the Massachusetts Senator once again seems to provide that sick sense of legitimacy to bullshit like we saw in DC Friday.