The Catholic schoolboys originally accused of mocking Native Americans and making offensive statements after last month's March For Life did nothing of the sort, a new investigation found.
According to The Washington Post, Greater Cincinnati Investigation, Inc. looked at what happened Jan. 18 and determined none of the boys from Covington Catholic High School participated in offensive behavior.
A video went viral two days after the alleged incident that appeared to show a student mocking a Native American activist who was playing a drum. Longer videos showed a group of Black Israelites were actually mocking the boys and swearing at them, at which point the Native Americans got between the two groups.
That did not stop many in the media and other groups from blaming the boys, but the investigation found they did nothing wrong.
"The students who arrived earlier encountered the Black Hebrew Israelites, who clearly addressed offensive statements to the students," the report reads. "We see no evidence that students responded with any offensive or racist statements of their own.
"Some of the students asked the chaperones if they could do their school cheers to help drown out the Black Hebrew Israelites. . . . Video evidence supports a finding that the Black Hebrew Israelites were laughing along with the students during the 'sumo' cheer."
The investigators added there was no evidence to suggest the students, many of whom were wearing "Make America Great Again" hats, chanted "Build the Wall" in reference to a border wall between the United States and Mexico.
Nathan Phillips, the Native American at the center of the controversy, then approached the boys. That left the students "confused," according to the report, but none of them made racist statements. Some of the boys did a "tomahawk chop" with their arms to the beat of Phillips' drumming and some chanted with him, the report reads.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.