By Carol Zimmermann

WASHINGTON (CNS) —An exchange between Catholic high school students and a Native American tribal leader in Washington Jan. 18 was vilified on social media the following day, but the immediate accusations that the students showed racist behavior have been stepped back as more details of the entire situation have emerged.

Many say the incident still needs to be investigated or discussed and others have pointed out that what happened can still provide a teaching moment not just about racism but also about news coverage and social media’s rapid response.

The student most prominent in the footage, junior Nick Sandmann of Covington High School in Kentucky, issued a statement Jan. 20 saying he has “received physical and death threats via social media, as well as hateful insults” based on reaction across social media. He also said he would cooperate in any investigation church leaders plan to undertake.

The group’s chaperones, also criticized on social media, said later the students “were targeted from the get-go.”

Covington High School, Covington Latin School and Covington’s diocesan offices were closed Jan. 22 due to threats of violence and will reopen when it is safe to do so, according to a diocesan statement reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer. A few dozen people took part in a protest vigil at the diocese’s headquarters Jan. 21 in reaction to the incident in Washington.

Robert Rowe, principal of Covington Catholic, sent a letter to parents announcing that school would be canceled Jan. 22 “to ensure the safety of our students, faculty and staff,” the newspaper reported.

On Jan. 18, tens of thousands gathered in Washington D.C. for the annual March for Life. Held a few days before the actual anniversary this year, the march took place on the same day as the first Indigenous People’s March on Constitution Avenue to draw attention to injustices against indigenous people.

At the day’s end, while students from Covington Catholic High School who had attended the March for Life were waiting for their buses to pick them up near the Lincoln Memorial, they met up with members of the Indigenous People’s March, in particular Nathan Phillips, tribal elder for the Omaha Tribe.

In clips from a video that went viral almost immediately, students are shown surrounding the leader, who is chanting and beating a drum. They appear to be mocking him and one student in particular, who is inches away from the drummer and never moves, was accused of flagrant disrespect.

Some students in the crowd were identified by their high school sweatshirts but the attire that drew the most rage was the “Make America Great Again” hats worn by a few in the group. That phrase, which President Donald Trump coined during his successful presidential campaign, has been deemed to be “racist” by his opponents.

The clip caused immediate outrage.

In response to the escalating fury on social media against these students, Covington High School and the Diocese of Covington issued a joint statement Jan. 19 saying they condemned the students’ actions “toward Nathan Phillips specifically, and Native Americans in general.”

“We extend our deepest apologies to Mr. Phillips. This behavior is opposed to the church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person,” it said, adding that the incident was “being investigated and we will take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion.”

The day after the initial clip of the exchange went viral, extended footage of how the situation unfolded appeared on social media, and the students issued their own statements about it.

Longer videos shown online reveal that another group at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial included members of the Hebrew Israelites, who also were attending the Indigenous People’s March.

Members of this group, as shown in video footage, taunted the students and some responded back. Phillips, the Native American, walked over to the students and the group, as an intervention, singing and beating a song of prayer. Sandmann, in a statement, said Phillips “locked eyes with me and approached me, coming within inches of my face.”

Sandmann said the group started doing school spirit chants to “counter the hateful things that were being shouted at our group” and they had asked for chaperone permission to do so.

“I did not speak to him. 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 protesters.”

Sandmann said the group started doing school spirit chants to “counter the hateful things that were being shouted at our group” and they had asked for chaperone permission to do so. He said he stayed motionless to help diffuse the situation and prayed silently it would not get out of hand.