Covington, Ky., Feb 13, 2019 / 15:08 pm
An independent investigation into the interaction last month between Covington high school students and a Native American man has exonerated the students, the Diocese of Covington has announced.
In a Feb. 11 message to Covington Catholic High School parents, posted on the diocesan website, Bishop Roger Foys said a third-party inquiry had determined that "our students did not instigate the incident that occurred at the Lincoln Memorial."
"In truth, taking everything into account, our students were placed in a situation that was at once bizarre and even threatening," he said. "Their reaction to the situation was, given the circumstances, expected and one might even say laudatory."
The investigations' report was released nearly a month after controversy first erupted following video emerging on Twitter showing a confrontation between a Native American elderly man with a drum – later identified as activist Nathan Phillips – and a group of students from Covington Catholic High School.