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‘I respect him,' student in viral video of encounter with Native American says

The high school student who was seen in a viral video showing an apparent confrontation with a Native American activist told the Today Show's Savannah Guthrie he was not "disrespectful."

Nick Sandmann was seen in the video wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat while appearing to grin close to the face of Nathan Phillips, who sang and played a drum during an Indigenous Peoples March in Washington, D.C.

STORY: Encounter between teen and Native American during Indigenous Peoples March

“As far as standing there, I had every right to do so,” Sandmann, a junior at Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, told Guthrie of the incident. “My position is that I was not disrespectful to Mr. Phillips. I respect him. I'd like to talk to him.”

Sandmann shared his account of what happened in a previously released prepared statement, which said the encounter occurred after another incident which was not shown in the initial video clip.

“Our chants were loud because we wanted to drown out the hateful comments that were being shouted at us by the protestors,” the statement said.

Sandmann’s statement indicated he “never interacted” with Phillips and he “was startled and confused as to why he had approached me.”

“In hindsight, I wish we could have walked away and avoided the whole thing,” Sandmann told Guthrie.

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Cox Media Group

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