March for Life Apologizes for Rush to Judgement against Covington Boys

Claire Chretien : Jan 29, 2019
LifeSiteNews.com

"In the future, when it comes to the accuracy of breaking news reports or social media coverage of the March, we will not trust, we will verify." -March for Life

(Washington, DC)—[Lifesitenews.com] More than a week after condemning the Covington Catholic High School students after reports claimed a video showed them harassing a Native American man, the March for Life has apologized for its "rush to judgment and initial statement based on incomplete and misleading information." (Photo: Jeanne Mancini speaks at the March for Life Rally on January 27, 2017/Credit: Steve Jalsevac-LifeSiteNews)

March for Life President Jeanne Mancini initially called the boys' alleged behavior "reprehensible" on January 19, but the March for Life deleted that statement the next day.

Extended video and firsthand accounts soon revealed the Native American man, Nathan Phillips, was the one who waded into the group waiting for its bus and decided to beat a drum inches from student Nick Sandmann's face, and other adults who accompanied Phillips shouted racial taunts at the kids. The kids had been performing school cheers in an attempt to drown out the harassment, and did not respond to adults' insults and abuse in kind.

As the original narrative began to fall apart, the March for Life released two tweets on January 20 saying, "Given recent developments regarding the incident on Friday evening, March for Life has deleted its original tweet and removed our statement on this matter from our website. It is clear from new footage and additional accounts that there is more to this story than the original video captured. We will refrain from commenting further until the truth is understood."

"For our rush to judgment and initial statement based on incomplete and misleading information, we apologize. The facts that have since come to light reveal that the boys from Covington Catholic experienced some real and inexcusable intimidation, insults, and harassment," the March for Life's statement Monday evening said. "We have tremendous respect for the schools, families and young people who travel long distances and make sacrifices to attend the March each year. In the future, when it comes to the accuracy of breaking news reports or social media coverage of the March, we will not trust, we will verify"... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Click here to continue reading.