FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JANUARY 21, 2019
CONTACT: RYAN HITE, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
Washington, D.C.: Tempers flared over the weekend as many false and incomplete reports about a group of Catholic boys school students spread from a Friday conflict with protesters. The Covington Catholic High School students were waiting for their bus at the Lincoln Memorial after participating in the March for Life. During this time, they were confronted by groups of protesters, because of their red “Make America Great Again” hats.
“The leftist media was quick to post inaccurate, shortened clips of a conflict from Friday afternoon” said Ed Martin, president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles. “But in the succeeding hours and days, it has quickly become apparent that these boys were first accosted with the most obscene and vicious insults from a first group of protesters and then were approached by a perplexing group of Native American marchers. This second portion was captured on video, and was used to rapidly paint a false narrative of pushy boys in MAGA hats intimidating a Native American veteran.
“This account is patently untrue and has now been proven as such. What’s even more sad is the quick willingness of many responsible parties who should know better in quickly reprimanding the students. From their school officials, to their home town mayor, to many notable right-wing pundits, many people were pressured into falsely scolding these boys who did nothing wrong. Now that the full story and statements are coming out, we want to take the opportunity to express our support of these courageous young pro-life warriors and our extreme disappointment in both the left and right who would so quickly propagate and fall for a viral-video hit job. It is disgraceful, and the students have conducted themselves in a manner that should make their families, their school, and the pro-life community at large very proud.”
To see the full statement from Nick Sandmann, the student in the viral video, as well as CNN’s correction to this story, click here.
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