The mother of a student at the Lincoln Memorial rally where MAGA hat-wearing boys were filmed facing off with Native American protesters has accused 'black Muslims' of starting the confrontation. The woman, who has not been identified, accused the African American activists of 'yelling profanities' and calling the boys names. Footage has emerged of a group of around four or five black protesters shouting at some of the high school students, before the Native American protesters arrived. The mother of a student who attended a rally at the Lincoln Memorial which became a flash-point of racial tension has accused 'black Muslims' of starting the confrontation The woman accused the African American protesters, who claimed to be 'Hebrew Israelites', of shouting profanity and names at the boys, sparking the ugly scenes Student Nick Sandmann was then filmed going eye-to-eye with 64-year-old Native American protester Nathan Philips who said he went over to separate the largely white schoolboys from the black protesters after he noticed them arguing. Footage of Sandmann and Philips standing within inches of each other as other schoolboys surround them and laugh has since gone viral. The mother of one of the schoolboys spoke to Heavy.com after the site contacted her for comment. In an email, she said: 'Shame on you! Were you there? Did you hear the names the people where calling these boys? It was shameful. 'Did you witness the black Muslims yelling profanities and video taping trying to get something to futher (sic) your narrative of hatred? ? 'Did you know that this “man” came up to this one boy and drummed in his face? Shame on you. Only reporting what you want. More fake news.' In fact, the black protesters claimed to be 'Hebrew Israelites', the New York Times reported. When told her comments would be published, she added: 'Delete my email. I want nothing to do with helping perpetuating (sic) your hate. Student Nick Sandmann then faced off with Native American war veteran Nathan Philips, sparking outrage after the footage appeared online 'I do not want to be a part of your story. You are ruining a boys life for fake news. Hate spreads like wildfire. I pray for you.' The site refused to name the mother or her son, because the woman refused to say whether her son was included in the footage. However, the site did confirm that the woman's son does attend Covington Catholic High School, and attended the rally. The boy in question is not Sandmann. A student posted a link to footage of four or five African-American protesters shouting at the students and some obscenities which were bleeped out. In response one of the students shouts back 'Woah, that's racist.' One of the men shouts at the student: 'When you get old enough they're gonna steal your organs.' He then seemingly shouts at the African - American student from Covington County: 'Get out n****r, get out, have you seen the movie?' A student can be heard shouting back: 'Why are you being mean?' Sandmann has issued his own statement on the confrontation, saying he has received death threats after the footage went viral. Philips says the boys chanted 'build the wall' at him and accused Sandmann of blocking his path, but admits walking over to them after seeing them arguing with the black protesters Covington Catholic High School officials have condemned the actions of the students, apologized to Philips, and said they are considering expulsion as a punishment He also mentions a group of African American protesters, saying they shouted slurs such as 'f****ts', 'bigots', 'racists,' and 'incest kids' at the schoolboys. Sandmann says the students - with permission from their chaperones - began singing 'spirit chants' of the kind used at sporting events in response to that abuse, and that no racially-charged language was used. It was at that point, he claims, that the Native American protesters arrive and Philips 'waded into the crowd' before confronting him. He says the man's actions left him 'startled and confused' and that he stayed still because he thought it would 'help diffuse the situation.' Philips gives a very different account of the confrontation, saying the teens were chanting 'build the wall' and that Sandmann blocked his path. However, he does acknowledge putting himself between the high school students and the African American protesters to try and calm things down. The Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School has condemned the actions of the students and apologized to Nathan Phillips. 'This behavior is opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person,' the church said in a statement. 'The matter is being investigated and we will take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion.'<doc-sep>President Donald Trump on Tuesday seized on a viral confrontation between Catholic high school students and Native American protesters on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial over the weekend to attack the news media. "Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be," Trump tweeted Tuesday morning. "They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good - maybe even to bring people together. It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream!" Conservative news outlets have latched onto the story as evidence of media bias, after videos over the weekend showed students from the all-male Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky -- with several wearing red 'Make America Great Again' caps -- chanting and appearing to taunt a small group of Native American protesters at an Indigenous Peoples March. The president specifically defended junior Nick Sandmann, who in one video was shown staring down protester Nathan Phillips as he chanted and banged on a ceremonial drum. Videos later surfaced that showed Phillips and the protesters walking toward the students before they were encircled, and Sandmann in a statement disputed that he ever sought confrontation with the group. "I believed that by remaining motionless and calm, I was helping to diffuse the situation," Sandmann said, adding that he and his family have received death threats since the initial video went viral. Trump on Monday evening tweeted about the incident, tagging Fox News host Tucker Carlson, saying the students including Sandmann were "treated unfairly with early judgements proving out to be false - smeared by media." Trump in the past has drawn condemnation from the Native American community for his rhetoric. He regularly refers to Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren as "Pocahontas" and earlier this month tweeted that a video Warren made would have been "a smash" if she did it from Bighorn or Wounded Knee with her husband dressed in "full Indian garb." Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota invited the president to visit tribal communities, tweeting, "the Wounded Knee Massacre was one of the darkest moments in our history. It should never be used as a punchline."<doc-sep>A mural of George Floyd is shown in the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Community members continue preparations during the third day in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with multiple counts of murder in the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: President Donald Trump's lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talks to journalists outside the White House West Wing July 01, 2020 in Washington, DC. Giuliani did an on-camera interview with One America News Network's Chanel Rion before talking to other journalists about Vice President Joe Biden and the news that Russian intelligence may have paid Taliban operatives to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) ORLANDO, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 28: Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency on February 28, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Begun in 1974, CPAC brings together conservative organizations, activists, and world leaders to discuss issues important to them. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 09: People walk past the Trump Tower as the impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins in Washington on February 09, 2021 in New York City. After listening to nearly four hours of legal arguments, the Senate has voted on Tuesday to move ahead with the impeachment trial of former President Trump. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the conflict in the Middle East from Cross- Hall of the White House on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Israel and Hamas announced that they would agree to a cease-fire, which will take into effect on Friday, following days of fighting that claimed more than 200 lives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 26: A view of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light-rail yard where a mass shooting occurred on May 26, 2021 in San Jose, California. A VTA employee opened fire at the yard, with preliminary reports indicating nine people dead including the gunman. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images) A healthcare worker prepares to administer a Pfizer/BioNTEch coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 2020. - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, had 1,940 new cases and 23 deaths on Monday. The province is expected to give its next doses to nursing home workers as a priority, according to media reports. (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Memorial Day weekend will bring rain and cool air for much of the East Kaya Taitano was at Friday's Indigenous Peoples March in Washington, DC, and filmed this confrontation between a teen in a Make America Great Again hat who stood directly in front of a Native American elder, who chanting and beating a drum. Other teens were taunting him and shooting video in the distance. The elder was identified as Nathan Phillips of the Omaha Tribe. He's a Vietnam veteran. title: KC🇬🇬🇺🇬🇺🌴🇬🇺🌴🌴 on Instagram: "The amount of disrespect.... TO THIS DAY. #SMH #ipmdc19 #ipmdc #indigenousunited #indigenouspeoplesmarch #indigenouspeoplesmarch2019" duration: 00:00:00 site: Instagram author: null published: Wed Dec 31 1969 19:00:00 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time) intervention: no description: null Correction: This article has been updated to remove wording that Phillips is a Vietnam veteran. He did serve in the military during the Vietnam War, but according to his service records, he was not deployed to Vietnam. Editor’s Note: This article and headline have been updated several times since its first publication to add additional reporting regarding witness accounts, statements and other details. (CNN) — A crowd of teenagers surrounded a Native American elder and other activists and appeared to mock them after Friday’s Indigenous Peoples March at the Lincoln Memorial. Videos of the confrontation show a smiling young man in a red Make America Great Again hat standing directly in front of the man, who was playing a drum and chanting. Other kids could be seen laughing, jumping around and seemingly making fun of the chants. Nathan Phillips, an elder with the Omaha tribe, said the confrontation felt like “hate unbridled.” In the moment, he said he was scared for his safety and the safety of those with him. The behavior of the students from Covington Catholic High School – an all-boys’ school in Northern Kentucky – triggered widespread condemnation from lawmakers and celebrities as well as the school district, the mayor of the neighboring town and Covington’s Roman Catholic Diocese. CNN’s Jake Tapper obtained a statement on Sunday from Nick Sandmann, a junior at Covington Catholic High School, who said he is the student in the video. Sandmann said he was trying to defuse a tense situation and denied insinuations that anyone in the crowd was acting out of racism or hatred. “I was not intentionally making faces at the protester. I did smile at one point because I wanted him to know that I was not going to become angry, intimidated or be provoked into a larger confrontation. I am a faithful Christian and practicing Catholic, and I always try to live up to the ideals my faith teaches me – to remain respectful of others, and to take no action that would lead to conflict or violence.” He cautioned against rushing to judgment based on the short time captured on the videos and encouraged people to watch longer clips available online, “as they show a much different story than is being portrayed by people with agendas,” he said. “I am mortified that so many people have come to believe something that did not happen – that students from my school were chanting or acting in a racist fashion toward African-Americans or Native Americans. I did not do that, do not have hateful feelings in my heart, and did not witness any of my classmates doing that.” The person who shot the videos described the atmosphere as tense. Kaya Taitano, a student at the University of the District of Columbia, participated in the Indigenous Peoples March earlier in the day. She said the teens were chanting things like “Build the wall” and “Trump 2020.” Those chants were not audible in videos reviewed by CNN. “I did not feel safe in that circle,” she said. Taitano said the whole incident started when the teens and four young African-Americans, who’d been preaching about the Bible nearby, started yelling and calling each other names. Another video shot before the encounter shows men who identify as members of the Hebrew Israelites taunting the students and other passersby with racist slurs. It got pretty intense, Taitano said, so Phillips started playing his drum and chanting what she was told was a healing prayer, to help defuse the situation. Phillips walked through the crowd, and Taitano said things were starting to calm down until he got to the grinning boy seen in the video. “This one kid just refused to move and he just got in Nathan’s face,” she said. Other boys circled around, she said. “They just surrounded him and they were mocking him and mocking the chant. We really didn’t know what was going to happen there.” Phillips served in the US Marine Corps Reserve from 1972 to 1976, according to his service record obtained by CNN. He told CNN that he was a “Vietnam-era” veteran. The USMC says he was never deployed during his service. “I was scared, I was worried for my young friends. I don’t want to cause harm to anyone,” Phillips told CNN’s Sara Sidner. “I don’t like the word ‘hate.’ I don’t like even saying it, but it was hate unbridled. It was like a storm.” The crowd kept growing as Phillips and the boy stood face to face, but Phillips kept on chanting and playing his drum. “What the young man was doing was blocking my escape. I wanted to leave. I was thinking, ‘How do I get myself out of this? I want to get away from it,’” Phillips said.<doc-sep>
A mural of George Floyd is shown in the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Community members continue preparations during the third day in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with multiple counts of murder in the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: President Donald Trump's lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talks to journalists outside the White House West Wing July 01, 2020 in Washington, DC. Giuliani did an on-camera interview with One America News Network's Chanel Rion before talking to other journalists about Vice President Joe Biden and the news that Russian intelligence may have paid Taliban operatives to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Vigils & tributes to George Floyd one year since his murder ORLANDO, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 28: Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency on February 28, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Begun in 1974, CPAC brings together conservative organizations, activists, and world leaders to discuss issues important to them. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Here's what reported grand jury in Trump case may look like NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 09: People walk past the Trump Tower as the impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins in Washington on February 09, 2021 in New York City. After listening to nearly four hours of legal arguments, the Senate has voted on Tuesday to move ahead with the impeachment trial of former President Trump. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Report: US companies may have benefited from forced labor of Uyghurs WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the conflict in the Middle East from Cross- Hall of the White House on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Israel and Hamas announced that they would agree to a cease-fire, which will take into effect on Friday, following days of fighting that claimed more than 200 lives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 26: A view of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light-rail yard where a mass shooting occurred on May 26, 2021 in San Jose, California. A VTA employee opened fire at the yard, with preliminary reports indicating nine people dead including the gunman. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images) A healthcare worker prepares to administer a Pfizer/BioNTEch coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 2020. - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, had 1,940 new cases and 23 deaths on Monday. The province is expected to give its next doses to nursing home workers as a priority, according to media reports. (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) 'Never seen levels like this': Union president on airline passenger misconduct Memorial Day weekend will bring rain and cool air for much of the East Kaya Taitano was at Friday's Indigenous Peoples March in Washington, DC, and filmed this confrontation between a teen in a Make America Great Again hat who stood directly in front of a Native American elder, who chanting and beating a drum. Other teens were taunting him and shooting video in the distance. The elder was identified as Nathan Phillips of the Omaha Tribe. He's a Vietnam veteran. title: KC🇬🇬🇺🇬🇺🌴🇬🇺🌴🌴 on Instagram: "The amount of disrespect.... TO THIS DAY. #SMH #ipmdc19 #ipmdc #indigenousunited #indigenouspeoplesmarch #indigenouspeoplesmarch2019" duration: 00:00:00 site: Instagram author: null published: Wed Dec 31 1969 19:00:00 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time) intervention: no description: null (CNN) — The discussion over what happened between competing groups of people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Friday doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. It all started that evening when someone posted an Instagram video of a tense encounter between a Native American elder and a group of Catholic high school students from Kentucky. Twenty-four hours later, the video was everywhere: trending on social networks, splashed across news sites and airing on TV. How did it spread so fast? Here’s a closer look. What happened that day at the Lincoln Memorial from youtube After participating in the March for Life rally on Capitol Hill, a group of students from Covington Catholic High School in northern Kentucky were wrapping up their day in Washington with a sightseeing visit to the Lincoln Memorial.