It was the hate crime of the century.
Or so some in the media appeared to think, judging by the condemnations and mass hysteria that followed initial footage of a group of Covington Catholic High School students — some of whom were wearing MAGA hats — supposedly harassing an older Native American man.
Except, what may have seemed to be one thing at first turned out to be something else altogether:
WATCH:
3 groups:
1. Catholic teens minding their own business on a class trip
2. Native American demonstrators (incl. Nathan Phillips) march up, beat drums, push into center of student group, call teens “beasts”
3. Black Israelites, who condemn whites as devils
Who’s in the wrong?
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) January 20, 2019
As details emerged, some individuals and outlets who had been quick to condemn the students retracted their words and even apologized.
National Review published a scathing piece by its deputy managing editor, Nicholas Frankovich.
This is just embarrassing. https://t.co/PL2Jwionf1 I wonder if the author will apologize to those Covington students?
— Roger Kimball (@rogerkimball) January 20, 2019
The outlet pulled the article on Sunday and published an explanation by editor Rich Lowry.
“Anyway, if not a hoax, this at the very least was not what it initially seemed,” Lowry wrote. “I deleted my original tweet and we also took down a strongly worded post by my colleague Nick Frankovich that relied on the incomplete video. It’s another reminder — even for an old hand like me — that it’s best not to make snap judgments and to wait for all sides of a controversy to have a chance to be heard.”
Dilbert creator Scott Adams apologized in person, with coffee.
Scott Adams apologizes for believing @CNN about the Covington Catholic Boys fake news. With coffee. https://t.co/Izg0tq4YkB
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) January 20, 2019
Reason editor Robby Soave did his research and eventually called the story a “rush to judgment.”
I’m carefully watching video footage of high school kids at the Lincoln Memorial like it’s the Zapruder film, IN ORDER TO PROVIDE YOU ALL THE VERY BEST OF TAKES. Stay tuned.
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) January 20, 2019
Uhhh….. okay… well, the media really got this one wrong…
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) January 20, 2019
The Covington / Nathan Phillips incident is shaping up to be as misguided a rush to judgment as the Rolling Stone story. Full video footage largely exonerates the students, explicitly contradicts Phillips. https://t.co/oJFab00xIB
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) January 20, 2019
Meghan McCain and CNN’s Jake Tapper seemed to agree:
My friend @robbysoave is one of the best journalists I know… I, like many others may have reacted too quickly. Apologize for being part of a media pile on. Please read his piece. https://t.co/WhJ5auQ3TQ
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) January 20, 2019
.@reason: “Video footage strongly contradicts Native American veteran Nathan Phillips’ claim that Covington Catholic High School boys harassed him. The media got this one completely wrong,” writes @robbysoave https://t.co/9Ki4iiTkQ9
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 20, 2019
Others weighed in as well. (RELATED: Pro-Choice Advocate Made Up A Hate-Crime – Against Herself)
Yesterday I had one impression of the maga kids from Kentucky. Now after seeing more videos I have a different more complicated impression. Makes all the hot takes seem silly.
— David Brooks (@nytdavidbrooks) January 20, 2019
I fell for the first edited video too. It’s #FakNews and these kids are owed a big apology https://t.co/e1ZZSSl2x9
— Megan????Fox (@MeganFoxWriter) January 20, 2019
I just watched the unedited video of the high school kids at the March – they did nothing wrong, and I correct an earlier tweet
The left intentionally misreported the facts (typical) to destroy these kids lives to blame it on Trump
Media made this a top story to wreck lives
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 20, 2019
Robert George, Princeton Professor and former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, apologized for “jump[ing] the gun.”
I apologize to the Covington Catholic boys. What Rod Dreher says of himself goes double for me. I jumped the gun and that was stupid and unjust. It is I, not the boys, who needs to take a lesson from this.
The Catholic Bonfire At The Stake https://t.co/uhYcgiLVWI via @amconmag
— Robert P. George (@McCormickProf) January 20, 2019
Dreher wrote in The American Conservative:
It is possible that the Catholic boys were complete asses. My initial judgment was that they certainly were that. You don’t treat a peaceful elderly person like this. Even if they thought he was wrong, those boys owed him respect. Yes, the old man approached them, but they could and should have handled him with respect. They come off as bullies.
But then I watched more clips, showing the greater context of the incident. It is not as simple as it has been portrayed. Below is a more complete video account of what happened. In it, one of the Catholic boys is overheard asking, “Does anybody know what he’s doing? Does anybody know what’s going on here.”
And, in it, one of the Indians with Phillips shouts: “White people, go back to Europe. This is not your land.” He curses the students with f-bombs (video is NSFW). He goes on: “You’re being a white man about it. That’s all you know how to do.”
You didn’t see that in the news reporting, did you?
The majority of the apologies and retractions have come from sources that most would consider right-leaning.
