Teens in MAGA hats taunt Native American elder in Washington DC

A woman who is reportedly the mother of a boy who taunted a Native American man in Washington, which caused global outrage has backed her son’s actions.

A woman who is reportedly the mother of one of the MAGA-cap-wearing teenagers who taunted a Native American man at a rally in Washington over the weekend has jumped to the defence of her son.

According to a report in the UK’s Independent newspaper, the woman claimed “black Muslims” had been harassing the group of students from a Kentucky all-boys Catholic high school.

Footage of a smirking teenager intimidating a Native American elder has gone viral. Picture: Supplied

In an email received by the US website Heavy.com, she allegedly wrote: “Did you hear the names of the people where (sic) calling these boys? It was shameful. Did you witness the black Muslims yelling profanities and video taping 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?”

Heavy.com reported that it had attempted to verify the identity of the woman but had been so far unable to.

Footage of a group of teenage boys — many wearing Make America Great Again caps — taunting the Native American man caused global condemnation over the weekend.

Teenagers mocked and taunted Native American protesters.

The teenagers, reportedly students of Kentucky’s Covington Catholic High School, were filmed mocking and intimidating Omaha elder and Vietnam veteran Nathan Phillips as he sang and played drums in peaceful protest on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The teens were taking part in an anti-abortion rally on Friday, while Mr Phillips was at an Indigenous Peoples March.

A number of Twitter users said the youths’ behaviour was “appalling” and their parents and school “should be ashamed”.

Kaya Taitano, a student at the University of the District of Columbia, participated in the march and shot the videos.

She told CNN that the teens were chanting things like “Build the wall” and “Trump 2020.”

“I did not feel safe in that circle,” she said.

Nobody is born racist.
Bigotry is learned from parents, teachers, society & leaders.
So yes, I sure as hell think Trump’s racist comments & constant dog-whistles have contributed to Making Asswipes Great Again.
It is why we must condemn racism every where & every time we see it. https://t.co/xQkgsGXyNR

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) January 19, 2019

This Veteran put his life on the line for our country. The students’ display of blatant hate, disrespect, and intolerance is a signal of how common decency has decayed under this administration. Heartbreaking. https://t.co/NuPnYu9FP4

— Congresswoman Deb Haaland (@RepDebHaaland) January 19, 2019

Mr Phillips later told CNN he has “fear for those youth, fear for their future, fear for their souls, their spirit, what they’re going to do to this country”.

Ms Taitano said the whole incident started when the teens and four young African-Americans, who had been preaching about the Bible nearby, started yelling and calling each other names.

Ms Taitano said Mr Phillips, an elder with the Omaha tribe, started playing his drum and chanting what she was told was a healing prayer, to help defuse the situation.

Mr 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.”

Mr Phillips, who holds an annual ceremony honouring Native American veterans in Arlington National Cemetery, told CNN he was “scared”.

“I was scared, I was worried for my young friends. I don’t want to cause harm to anyone,” he told CNN.

“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,’” Mr Phillips said.

Ms Taitano said the standoff continued until a chaperone came and led the teens away for a photograph.

Congresswoman Deb Haaland, one of the first Native American women to be elected to Congress, tweeted that the students showed “blatant hate, disrespect, and intolerance”.