Student in MAGA cap filmed 'mocking' Native American denies being racist

A US student who has been accused of mocking a Native American war veteran has denied claims he is “racist” after footage of their face-to-face confrontation was view hundreds of thousands of times.

Nick Sandmann, from Kentucky, was seen standing extremely close to elder Nathan Phillips, wearing a Make America Great Again hat, while students chanted, laughed and jeered.

The Covington Catholic High School students were taking place in an anti-abortion rally in Washington and met Mr Philips, who was taking part in an Indigenous Peoples March, on Friday.

But Mr Sandmann has dismissed the “misinformation and outright lies”, and claims the group only starting chanting because they “were being loudly attacked and taunted in public.”

The junior also claims he “did not witness or hear any students chant "build that wall" or anything hateful or racist at any time.”

The statement added: “After a few minutes of chanting, the Native American protestors, who I hadn't previously noticed, approached our group.

“The Native American protestors had drums and were accompanied by at least one person with a camera.

“The protestor everyone has seen in the video began playing his drum as he waded into the crowd, which parted for him. I did not see anyone try to block his path.

“He locked eyes with me and approached me, coming within inches of my face. He played his drum the entire time he was in my face.

“I never interacted with this protestor. 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 protestors, and when the second group approached I was worried that a situation was getting out of control where adults were attempting to provoke teenagers.

“I believed that by remaining motionless and calm, I was helping to diffuse the situation. I realized everyone had cameras and that perhaps a group of adults was trying to provoke a group of teenagers into a larger conflict. I said a silent prayer that the situation would not get out of hand.”

The video sparked fury online, with Mr Sandmann allegedly receiving “physical and death threats via social media, as well as hateful insults.

But a longer version of the video, which was released on Sunday, shows the students being "taunted" by a group who identify as members of the Black Hebrew Israelites.

In it, the group are called out for wearing MAGA hats to a rally for indigenous people, have obscenities shouted at them, and are labelled "racist" by the group before the students start retaliating.

Supporters of the students claim the extended video absolves them of any wrongdoing and apologised to them online.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School apologised and said they are investigating and will take "appropriate action, up to and including expulsion."

On Sunday, Mr Phillips, a member of the Omaha Nation, said he was angry with the school staff for “allowing them to behave that way.”

He told Indian Country Today: “I'm angry with those instructors, the chaperones and tutors whose children’s lives were in their hands. That was their job, that wasn't my job to do.

“But they were getting paid to take care of those children to act and for them to be allowed to behave that way.

“Is it in my mind, is a fireable offense.

“They’ve aligned those children to take the wrong path and they have a bright future to live.

“You know, if that was my child, I would not be happy with the school officials right now to allow my child to behave that way.

“I don't care if my child is that way. When he's out in public, he’d better behave.”

“Thank you for your support. I could do some more prayers. Honestly. I'm still scared. I'm still feeling vulnerable. But I'm not gonna back down.

“Those young people from that school, that song was a prayer for their future and my children’s future.

“We’re facing critical times and we’ve got to make choices, and they're going to be some hard choices.”