2019 Lincoln Memorial confrontation
On January 18, 2019, a confrontation between groups of political demonstrators took place near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The interaction between Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann, who attends Transylvania University, and works for Rep. Andy Barr and Native American Nathan Phillips was captured in photos and videos widely disseminated by major media outlets. Videos released days later showed that initial media reports had omitted key details of the incident. Reports of the incident triggered outrage in the United States, including calls to dox the students, after stories falsely reported the Catholic students acted as the aggressors. The students received death threats and Covington Catholic High School temporarily closed due to fears for its students' safety.
A still from a viral video of Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann and Native American Nathan Phillips | |
| Date | January 18, 2019 |
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| Location | Lincoln Memorial stairs |
| Coordinates | 38°53′21.4″N 77°3′0.5″W |
| Participants |
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The short videos of the encounter that were uploaded to social media platforms received millions of views and were widely shared. At first, the anger focused on the students and the school, which, along with some of the students, received threats of violence. As more videos were released, diverging views about what had happened polarized Americans. The incident was described by The New York Times as an "explosive convergence of race, religion and ideological beliefs" and a Vox editorial called it the "nation's biggest story".
In February 2019, the Covington Diocese released an investigation report of a private detective agency hired by the diocese and the high school, stating that the report exonerated the students. The American news media has been criticized for covering the incident without fully investigating what occurred and fueling controversy and outrage. Covington students have filed a number of multi-million dollar defamation lawsuits against news agencies. Nicholas Sandmann, the Covington student featured in most media coverage of the incident, settled lawsuits with CNN, The Washington Post, and NBCUniversal. He later lost his suits against The New York Times, CBS, ABC, Rolling Stone, and Gannett.