The student at the center of the viral encounter between teenagers wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and a Native American elder last week on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial has been getting help from a PR firm.
Nick Sandmann, a junior at Kentucky’s Covington Catholic High School, became the focus of controversy when a video clip emerged this weekend showing him standing in front of the Native American elder, Nathan Phillips, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as Phillips sings and beats on a drum. Other young people standing close by can be seen encircling Phillips and the student.
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To handle the ensuing publicity, Sandmann and his family enlisted the help of Louisville public relations firm RunSwitch PR, which helped him devise a three-page statement shared with the media on Sunday in which he publicly identified himself.
In a statement shared with Courier Journal, RunSwitch said it “has been retained by the Sandmann family to offer professional counsel with what has become a national media story. We are working with the family to ensure an accurate recounting of events which occurred this past weekend.”
The initial impression reported by the media after the Friday encounter was that Sandmann and his peers, who were in Washington, D.C., for the March for Life, were being disrespectful of Phillips, and in response, lawmakers, Native-American leaders, and the Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School were quick to condemn Sandmann’s behavior. The school announced it was investigating the situation and said he could be expelled.
However, extended video that came to light on Sunday has caused some who cast judgment to walk back their criticism, as it shows Phillips was the one to approach the teenagers, taking a left on a landing along the stairway up the Lincoln Memorial and walking directly into the throng of students. Furthermore, video shows that before Phillips arrived on the scene, a small group of Black Hebrew Israelites were nearby yelling obscenities at passersby, including the students who would eventually crowd the area.
Sandmann’s statement Sunday, which came as several conservative members of the media and others walked back their initial condemnation of the Covington Catholic High School students after the longer video emerged, claimed he was “not intentionally” trying to mock Phillips.
“Because we were being loudly attacked and taunted in public, a student in our group asked one of our teacher chaperones for permission to begin our school spirit chants to counter the hateful things that were being shouted at our group,” Sandmann wrote. “We would not have done that without obtaining permission from the adults in charge of our group.
“I was not intentionally making faces at the protester. I did smile at one point because I wanted him to know that I was not going to become angry, intimidated or be provoked into a larger confrontation,” he said. “I harbor no ill will for this person. I respect this person’s right to protest and engage in free speech activities, and I support his chanting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial any day of the week. I believe he should re-think his tactics of invading the personal space of others, but that is his choice to make.”
One of RunSwitch’s partners is Scott Jennings, a conservative political commentator who worked previously as a special assistant to President George W. Bush and campaign adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. He is also a columnist for the Courier Journal and CNN contributor.
The two other partners at the firm are Steve Bryant and Gary Gerdemann, who said Sandmann’s family reached out to them.
