Nathan Phillips Speaks Out About His Viral Nick Sandmann Confrontation
After a video of Nathan Phillips went viral last Friday showing his encounter with 16-year-old Covington Catholic High School junior Nick Sandmann, he's opened up to the press about the events that led up to the public confrontation and how he's been feeling ever since.
Phillips sat down with Savannah Guthrie of the TODAY show on Thursday and said he has forgiveness in his heart for Sandmann and the other students who participated in the confrontation during the Indigenous Peoples March at the Lincoln Memorial, despite the insincerity of Sandmann's response.
After watching Sandmann's interview, which also took place with Guthrie, Phillips felt Sandmann's response was “Coached and written up for him. Insincerity. Lack of responsibility," he explained. "Those are the words I came up with, but then I went to go pray about it. And then I woke up, and I woke up with this forgiving heart. So I forgive him.”
In Sandmann's interview with Guthrie, he defended his actions and stated that he will not offer an apology for how he and his classmates behaved. “My position is that I was not disrespectful to Mr. Phillips. I respect him. I'd like to talk to him,” he told Guthrie. “I wish we could've walked away and avoided the whole thing. But I can't say that I'm sorry for listening to him and standing there.”
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