The Covington Catholic High School student who stood still as a Native American protester approached him and chanted says he has received death threats from people who believe he was harassing the protester.
“It’s been terrible, people have threatened our lives,” Nick Sandmann told NBC in an interview that aired Wednesday when asked how his life has changed after a video of the incident went viral.
“I’ve also been getting a lot of messages from people – both support and a lot of hateful things,” he said.
“It’s weird to see your face on television…I’ve also been getting a lot of messages from people – both support and a lot of hateful things.” -Nick Sandmann pic.twitter.com/HbnIVx1YHd
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 23, 2019
Sandmann found himself at the center of a controversy over the weekend after an image of him standing and smiling in front of the Native American protester Nathan Phillips went viral.
Initial reports says he and other classmates confronted and tried to intimidate the protester, but other videos showed the protester approached the students while banging on his drum.
“At first we were unsure of if he was trying to join in and drum along with our chants,” Sandmann told NBC. He said students were already reciting school chants to drown out the insults being shouted at them by a group of black Hebrew Israelites.
Sandmann said the group called the students “bigots,” “incest kids,” and other derogatory names likely related to their stance as Trump supporters. He said he “definitely felt threatened.”
He also said that he never heard anyone yell “Build the Wall,” like some media outlets reported, and said he didn’t even hear that phrase being used when he listened back on all the videos of the incident.
The students from Kentucky were in Washington, D.C. Friday for the 46th annual anti-abortion March for Life.
Many perceived Sandmann’s smile as smug, but he indicated that he wanted to continue smiling and standing his ground to show Phillips that he wasn’t going to get a rise out of him.
“I see it as a smile saying: ‘This is the best you’re going to get out of me. You aren’t going to get any more reaction,’” Sandmann said.
He also said he respects Phillips and would like to sit down and talk with him. But he also told NBC that after the incident went viral, “I wish we could’ve walked away and avoided the whole thing.”
