A couple of Covington Catholic students, Sam Schroder and Grant Hillmann, stated that they have been threatened with “just awful things”, ranging from being burned alive to being “sexually assaulted by the clergy members” in wake of last week’s March for Life incident in Washington D.C. At the event, the students encountered a Native American elder and appear to taunt him, with a video of the incident going viral by Tuesday.
“I was doxed three separate occasions before we posted that video. And the threats, they’ve been horrible”, Hillmann said Wednesday appearing on “Fox & Friends”, adding that he has never before heard “such cruel things wished upon another human being”.
Schroder noted that his fellow student Nick Sandmann was not being disrespectful, like it was claimed online earlier, when he was approached by Native American activist Nathan Phillips, but was conversely trying to be courteous.
“I know no one from our school would be disrespectful”, he said. “And everybody else who was in the video that was surrounding the area — they told me that he had — he was not trying to do that at all. I know what kind of kids [Covington] raises and it’s not disrespect”.
Hillmann, in his turn hit at those who mocked his Kentucky school and criticized them for bullying students in such a negative manner:
“It’s really sad to see someone with such a huge platform, who has the ability to spread positivity, to use it in such a negative manner to bully children”, he pointed out.
This corresponds to what Sandmann himself noted earlier, as quoted by media: according to his statement, he and his fellow students were simply chanting their school spirit slogans, with permission from an adult chaperone, to counter insults being directed at them by a group of demonstrators. He said that when they had been chanting for some time, another group, including Nathan Phillips, approached them.
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In response, co-host Steve Doocy asked the boys about a video that reportedly shows high school students in blackface at a rally from several years ago, requesting them to comment on it. Schroder said that it was just a display of school spirit:
“I just explain it as showing our school spirit. We have many themes like nerd, business, whiteout, blue-out, blackout as you’ve seen in the video”, he stated, adding that he knows the “kids” meant “nothing by it – just showing school spirit”.
