Freshman Rep. Ilhan
Omar, D-Minn., is facing a social media backlash for going after Covington Catholic students anew Tuesday night, even after many in the media acknowledged initially misreporting on their widely viewed confrontation with a Native-American elder in Washington last week.
Media figures initially seized on the
viral confrontation between the group of students and Native-American elder Nathan Phillips. The initial clip appeared to show students antagonizing him, but additional video then emerged offering context, including that Phillips approached them amid a confrontation between the students and Black Hebrew Israelite protesters. The students pushed back on the initial criticism, and many of those critics have since retracted their statements -- but others have revived the criticism.
Omar weighed in on the subject, responding to President Trump’s tweet defending Covington student Nick Sandmann and his peers -- by claiming they were taunting the black protesters despite accounts to the contrary and citing a videotaped comment about rape, though it's unclear whether it was one of the Covington students who said it.
