# Covington High School Students Confrontation With Native American Activists
A January 2019 viral video showed Covington Catholic High School students facing Native American activist Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The clip triggered a wave of online outrage before longer footage flipped the story, turning the incident into a lightning rod for arguments about media rushes to judgment and ending in multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuits.
## Overview
The Covington High School Students Confrontation With Native American Activists refers to a viral January 2019 video showing a group of teenagers from Covington Catholic High School standing near Native American activist Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.[5] The short clip zeroed in on student Nick Sandmann, wearing a red 'Make America Great Again' hat and smiling face-to-face with Phillips as Phillips beat a drum and chanted a prayer song[1]. Within hours the video was everywhere on Twitter, and the early framing painted the boys as MAGA-hatted bigots harassing a Native American elder[5].
Days later, longer footage flipped the story. Extended video showed a small group of Black Hebrew Israelites shouting slurs at the students first, and Phillips walking into the middle of both groups while drumming[3]. Outlets that piled on early started backpedaling, and the incident turned into a case study in rushing to judgment on partial video. It ended with multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuits filed on behalf of Sandmann[6].
## How It Spread
On January 19, activist Shaun King reposted the clip with a message about 'young kids in MAGA hats' surrounding a Native American elder, and it pulled over 69,500 likes and 22,800 retweets in 48 hours[5]. That same day actor Chris Evans tweeted that the video was 'appalling' and 'shameful,' pulling more than 213,000 likes over two days[5]. Author Reza Aslan tweeted a black-and-white screencap asking whether anyone had seen 'a more punchable face than this kid's,' and YouTuber Philip DeFranco uploaded a video condemning the students[5].
By January 20, longer video was public and the picture changed fast. Reason writer Robby Soave argued the extended footage showed the students stayed relatively calm while the Black Hebrew Israelites shouted racist, homophobic and bigoted abuse, and that Phillips put himself between the two sides[3]. DeFranco deleted his original take, saying he should have waited for more details[5]. CNN reported the January 21 suspension of the @2020fight Twitter account, whose version of the video hit at least 2.5 million views and 14,400 retweets before the takedown[4]. The account claimed to belong to a California teacher but used a profile photo of Brazilian blogger Nah Cardoso without permission[4].
Sandmann gave a written statement through CNN on January 20 saying the Black Hebrew Israelites had called the students 'racists,' 'bigots,' 'white crackers,' 'faggots' and 'incest kids' before Phillips arrived[2]. He appeared on NBC's Today with Savannah Guthrie on January 23 and did not apologize, saying he 'had every right' to stand where he stood[5]. President Donald Trump tweeted that the students had been 'treated unfairly with early judgements' and 'smeared by media'[5].
## How to Use
The clip is not a template meme. It gets cited as shorthand in arguments about viral video framing, media apologies, and defamation lawsuits, usually paired with the still image of Sandmann's smile facing Phillips's drum[3]. Commentators still bring it up when a new video goes viral before longer context appears[7].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Covington High School Students Confrontation With Native American Activists?
It refers to the viral January 18, 2019 video of Covington Catholic High School students standing near Native American activist Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial, with student Nick Sandmann smiling face-to-face with Phillips as he drummed[5].
### Where did Covington High School Students Confrontation With Native American Activists come from?
Instagram user @ka_ya11 posted the first clip on January 18, 2019 after the March for Life and the Indigenous Peoples' March overlapped near the Lincoln Memorial[5].
### What does Covington High School Students Confrontation With Native American Activists mean?
The event is used online as shorthand for media rushes to judgment on partial viral video, after longer footage undercut the initial framing of the students as aggressors[3].
### How do you use Covington High School Students Confrontation With Native American Activists?
It shows up mostly as a reference point in arguments about defamation, viral video context, and mainstream news errors, typically paired with the still of Sandmann and Phillips[3].
### Is Covington High School Students Confrontation With Native American Activists still popular?
The clip is not actively circulating as a meme, but the incident is still referenced in press and legal commentary years later, especially around the CNN settlement in January 2020[6].
### Who is Nick Sandmann?
Sandmann was a Covington Catholic High School student who wore a red MAGA hat in the viral video and later gave a written statement through CNN denying wrongdoing[2].
### Who is Nathan Phillips?
Phillips is a Native American activist from Ypsilanti, Michigan and a Marine Corps Reserve veteran who was attending the Indigenous Peoples' March that day[1].
### Who were the Black Hebrew Israelites in the video?
A small group from the black nationalist religious sect who, according to Reason's account of the extended video, shouted racist, homophobic and bigoted abuse at the students before Phillips walked in[3].
### What lawsuits came out of the Covington incident?
Sandmann's team filed defamation suits against The Washington Post ($250 million), CNN ($275 million) and NBC Universal, with CNN settling in January 2020 for an undisclosed amount[6].
### Why was the @2020fight Twitter account suspended?
CNN Business found the account, which posted a version of the video with over 2.5 million views, was using a Brazilian blogger's photo and misrepresenting itself as a California teacher, and Twitter suspended it on January 21, 2019[4].
### Did Sandmann actually win $275 million?
No. Snopes fact-checked that claim in January 2020, noting the CNN settlement amount was never made public and that seeking damages is not the same as winning them[8].
## References
1. [https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/01/20/native-american-leader-nathan-phillips-recounts-incident-video/2630256002/]()
2. [https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/20/us/covington-kentucky-student-statement/index.html]()
3. [https://reason.com/blog/2019/01/20/covington-catholic-nathan-phillips-video]()
4. [https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/21/tech/twitter-suspends-account-native-american-maga-teens/index.html]()
5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/covington-high-school-students-confrontation-with-native-american-activists]()
6. [https://www.fox19.com/2020/01/07/cnn-settles-lawsuit-with-nick-sandmann/]()
7. [https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/07/media/cnn-settles-lawsuit-viral-video/index.html]()
8. [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cnn-covington-settlement/]()
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