On January 18, 2019, the participants of the Indigenous People’s March and March of Life clashed, though the story is still unclear.

Protests are and have been protected by the Amendments within the Constitution. However, the idea of peaceful protest has come to be reconsidered due to the combination of the Indigenous People’s March, the March for Life movement and a group of Hebrew Israelites. According to Nick Sandman, a student from Covington Catholic School and one of the March of Life protesters, the incident began with the group of Hebrew Israelites insulting his fellow protesters. Then in the effort to ignore to insults, some of which range from “racists” to “incest kids”, the students began to sing their school spirit chant.

After the chant began, a group of Native American protesters, who we now know as Nathan Phillips and others, made their way to the March For Life protesters, adding his own chant to the discourse along with the beat of his drum. Sandman was “startled and confused as to why he had approached me.”

The account is changed from Phillips’ view. In his own words, the Black Israelites and March of Life protestors had been bickering for hours. As he and his group concluded their march, Phillips took matters into his hands and made his way between the two other groups, as “I know that ‘there’s enough of us, we can do this’ mentality can do a lot.”

When Phillips arrived on the scene, Nick Sandman stepped in front of him. Somewhat startled, Phillips continued his chant, which he stated was one of peace in order to calm the other protesters. This is when those beside Sandman circled around Phillips and reportedly mocked his chant.

So far, the story is still unclear and the event has left those aware of the situation polarized. This is reinforced by the lack of a full video of the incident.