YouTube Covington Catholic students have spoken out about threats they received in the wake of the viral DC video.
Covington Catholic High School was closed on Tuesday amid safety concerns after a group of students from the Kentucky school were involved in a viral incident in Washington D.C. while attending the March for Life. The students were seen in a video facing off with a Native American elder and in an exchange with members of the Black Hebrew Israelites hate group.
Two students from the school have spoken out about death threats they say they have received along with other members of their community, including students, parents, faculty and other officials. Police are investigating the threats, while the Catholic Diocese of Covington have said they are looking into the D.C. incident.
Nick Sandmann, a junior at Covington Catholic, was at the center of the controversial viral incident. Sandmann has been accused of mocking and taunting the Native American man, Nathan Phillips, along with other students. But Sandmann, who identified himself as the student seen in the video, issued a statement saying that he was not trying to disrespect Phillips and saying that Phillips and other protesters confronted him and the other Covington students.
Sandmann’s classmates at the all-boys school, Sam Schroder and Grant Hillmann, who were not among the students in D.C., recorded a video shared on social media by conservative teen C.J. Pearson. In the video, Schroder and Hillmann say they were “doxxed” and targeted by those angered by the viral video, despite not being involved.
You can watch the video below:
The Students Say the Death Threats ‘Include That We Should Be Locked in the School & it Should Be Burned to the Ground, the School Being Bombed, School Shooting Threats’
Sam Schroder and Grant Hillmann said they made the video to show how the “recent negative media controversy has affected us as individuals and our school as a whole.” The video was shared on Monday, January 21, by Pearson, three days after the D.C. incident and two days after the videos of that incident went viral.
“Several media platforms blatantly lied about the events regarding the controversy in D.C. and it has affected us as a community and individuals greatly,” Hillmann said in the video. Schroder added, “There have been many threats against our lives, against our parents. Some of these include that we should be locked in the school and it should be burned to the ground, the school being bombed, school shooting threats.”
Schroder continued, “It’s really scary, I know a lot of people are scared to go to school tomorrow and won’t be attending because of what could happen. There have been cops there ever since the incident and I think there will be a lot more tomorrow.”
According to Hillman, a lot of the “negativity and hate” has come from people on social media, “doxxing” people that were at the event. Doxxing means to share a person’s private information online without their consent.
“I, myself, wasn’t even present but I am very vocal about defending my school and my peers and I have been doxxed on three separate occasions. This has lead to a tsunami of hateful messages and threats and everything above,” Hillmann. Schroder said he was also doxxed. He said a lot of the posts containing the information about them have been deleted because those who posted it don’t want to face the “backlash” now.
“A lot of people’s parents were also doxxed, their work was called. I mean, this could greatly affect their job. They could be fired. There are real consequences for these actions and it all spews from a 30-second clip taken out of a two-hour video out of context and people jumping to conclusions before the full story is released. Nobody did their research and it’s now showing,” Schroder said in the video.
Covington Catholic High School Will Remain Closed Until Law Enforcement Says It Is Safe to Reopen, the Diocese Says
Covington Catholic High School, located in Park Hills, Kentucky, was closed on Tuesday and officials from the Diocese of Covington have said that they will not reopen the school until police say it is safe to do so.
Principal Robert Rowe said in a statement that they closed the school “in order to ensure the safety of our students, faculty and staff.” He added, “All activities on campus will be cancelled for the entire day and evening. Students, parents, faculty and staff are not to be on campus for any reason. Please continue to keep the Covington Catholic Community in your prayers.”
The diocese previously apologized to Phillips and for the controversy surrounding the incident. Officials have since said they have hired a third-party investigator to look into what happened.
“This is a very serious matter that has already permanently altered the lives of many people. It is important for us to gather the facts that will allow us to determine what corrective actions, if any, are appropriate,” the diocese said in a statement.
Rob Sanders, the Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney, told the Cincinnati Enquirer that the threats against the school are being investigated.