Nathan Phillips, the American Indian who beat his drum in the face of the Covington Catholic boys, now says he is considering calling for the students’ expulsion.
Phillips’ encounter with one Covington student, Nicholas Sandmann, sparked allegations in the media that the Covington boys were mocking and taunting Phillips for his race. Phillips himself claimed that the boys surrounded him and were chanting, “Build the wall.”
However, according to a statement from Sandmann and a full video of the days’ events, Phillips instigated the incident by walking up to the Covington group and loudly beating his drum in their faces.
Despite the fact that Phillips’ claims have been widely disproved, he slammed Sandmann’s statement and suggested the boys should be expelled in an interview with The Cincinnati Inquirer. (RELATED: MAGA Hat Kid Speaks Up: ‘It Was Clear To Me That He Had Singled Me Out’)
“He needs to put out a different statement,” Phillips said. “I’m disappointed with his statement. He didn’t accept any responsibility. That lack of responsibility, I don’t accept it.”
“At first, I wanted the teachers and chaperones to be reprimanded — some fired — for letting this happen. For the students, I was against any expulsions, but now I have to revisit that,” he added.
Phillips also rejected an offer from Cincinnati restaurateur Jeff Ruby to sit down to a meal with the Covington boys and “break bread,” stating, “it’s not the right time.”
The incident occurred near the Lincoln Memorial as the boys were waiting to board a bus during their school trip to Washington, D.C. According to video, the students engaged in school spirit chants to drown out racial taunts from a black supremacist group. The chants apparently attracted the ire of Phillips, who approached the boys with his drum and claimed to be praying against their “hate.” (RELATED: The Real Story Behind The Catholic School Boys And Their Dust Up With A Native American)
“[The students] had an opportunity to not hate and to put out an olive branch and say, let’s sit down and pray together,” he said. “Instead, they responded to hate with hate. And [Sandmann] transferred that hate to me.”
Phillips also accused Sandmann of already being “worked up in a frenzy” because he had been participating in the March for Life against abortion.
“What he came to town for was protesting,” Phillips said. “Anyone who knows about Roe versus Wade knows it isn’t a pretty picture.”
Sandmann claimed in his statement that he stood silently and smiled when Phillips approached him to try to defuse the situation, adding that he said a “silent prayer.”
“He stole my narrative,” Phillips accused. “From the time I hit that first beat of the drum until I hit the last beat, I was in prayer. Now all of a sudden, he’s the prayer guy and the passive one.”