Video has surfaced of a 16-year-old boy telling a group of Native American men at the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington D.C. they stole land from ‘the Aboriginals.’
After a group of Native American men walk by the Lincoln Memorial, a voice can be heard saying, ‘Just because you stole the land, don’t make it yours.’
The student, who is wearing an Owensboro Catholic High School hoodie, and ‘Trump’ hat, can be heard replying, ‘…and y’all stole it from the Aboriginals…it’s been stolen throughout all of history…land gets stolen…it’s how it works…it’s the way of the world.’
The student (pictured above) is heard on the video telling Native Americans they ‘stole’ land from ‘the Aboriginals, it’s how it works…it’s the way of the world’
‘This is a 16-year-old who doesn’t have that empathy of loss,’ the student’s father said
President of Owensboro Catholic Schools Tom Lilly defended the student saying he’d made a mistake.
‘Just because you teach them between right and wrong doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be some wrongs along the way,’ Lilly said, as reported by The Owensboro Times.
Lilly referred to the remark as ‘flippant,’ questioning ‘was that comment any more than a cynical remark?’ He’s a good kid and I hate this,’ Lilly added.
While the student’s father said his son showed a lack of empathy.
‘He said ‘land gets taken away’ and it does, but a 16-year-old boy doesn’t understand that there is pain there. It takes age to understand how harmful that is,’ the father told The Owensboro Times. ‘Nothing in his life has been taken.’
Tom Lilly President of Owensboro Catholic Schools (pictured) said the student had made a mistake
‘This is not a ‘boys will be boys’ situation. This is a 16-year-old who doesn’t have that empathy of loss,’ the father added.
The comments come on the back of another video also filmed during the march that is generating national backlash.
The other footage shows a youth staring at and standing extremely close to an elderly man, identified as Vietnam veteran, who’s singing and playing a drum.
The student is wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat, some of the onlookers are wearing Covington Catholic High School clothing who surround them, laughing and shouting. Many of the youths are also wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ hats.
Laura Keener of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington said Saturday it is looking into the video that shows students from the diocese’s all-male high school.
Keener says it regrets the incident and is investigating.
Congresswoman Deb Haaland tweeted: ‘This Veteran put his life on the line for our country. The students’ display of blatant hate, disrespect, and intolerance is a signal of how common decency has decayed under this administration. Heartbreaking.’
Kentucky students wearing MAGA hats have appeared to mock a Native American man
The elderly man has been indentified as Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder and Vietnam veteran, who holds an annual ceremony honoring Native American veterans
The Indigenous Peoples March in Washington on Friday coincided with the March for Life, which drew thousands of anti-abortion protesters, including a group from Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills.
The Indian Country Today website identified the elderly man as Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder and Vietnam veteran who holds an annual ceremony honoring Native American veterans at Arlington National Cemetery.
Phillips said: ‘I heard them saying ‘build that wall’.’
A police car sits in front of Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky after a video emerged showing students from the high school mocking Native Americans
State Rep. Ruth Buffalo, a North Dakota state lawmaker and member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, said she was saddened to see students showing disrespect to an elder at what was supposed to be a celebration of all cultures.
‘The behavior shown in that video is just a snapshot of what indigenous people have faced and are continuing to face,’ Buffalo said.
She said she hoped it would lead to some kind of meeting with the students to provide education on issues facing Native Americans.
It appeared that the Facebook Page for Covington Catholic High School was hacked to show images from the video
The Indigenous Peoples March in Washington on Friday coincided with the March for Life, which drew thousands of anti-abortion protesters
A number of the students in the footage were wearing Make America Great Again hats
Some of the students were also wearing clothing with Covington logos
Nathan Phillips, the man in the video, said he heard people chanting ‘build that wall’
Congresswoman Deb Haaland tweeted that the footage was ‘heartbreaking’