The mother of one of the Catholic schoolboys accused of taunting a Native American activist said Tuesday she believes the boys had been targeted because of what they stood for, the red Make America Great Again hats they were wearing, and because of the color of their skin.
"I think that was one of the reasons they were targeted," the mother, Jill Hamlin, who was a chaperone for the annual Covington Catholic High School trip to the March for Life, told Fox News' "Fox and Friends," when asked if the hats were the reason for the fracas. "I think they were also targeted for what they stood for, which is Christianity, the right for life, and they were singled out, and I believe partially, because of the color of their skin."
After last Friday's March for Life in Washington, the boys were at the Lincoln Memorial waiting for their bus when they were first targeted by protesters identified as the Black Hebrew Israelites, and then approached by Native American elder Nathan Phillips and others beating drums. Images from the incident went viral, in particular showing one of the boys, Nick Sandmann, looking Phillips in the face.
"I don't know why Nathan Phillips chose Nick Sandmann," Hamlin said. "I think he would have targeted anyone but maybe it was because Nick Sandman had the courage to look this man in the face and he tried to defuse the situation by not reacting and by standing there respectfully."
Covington Catholic is closed today because of safety concerns, and Hamlin said the situation is scary.
"My son works, and I've been nervous to even have him go to his job," she said. "I don't know who's out there and what they're doing."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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