You’ve seen the video: a teenage boy standing face to face with a Native American man holding a drum. The teenager is wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat; the old man is standing very close to the boy; and the teenager appears to have a devilish smirk on his face.

When this picture first surfaced, immediate assumptions were drawn by left wing and purportedly neutral media sources in defense of the Native American man. It seemed to be evident that he was being taunted, as the hat worn by the boy has widely become a symbol of discrimination. And, yes, I know that some people may disagree with that statement, and I fully acknowledge that it may not be the opinion held by everyone, but these assumptions would not have been made if it were not true for a lot of people. Anyway, it only seemed this way.

Within the week following the release of this video, though, clearer light has been shed. A Native American group was marching through the area, led by the man who can be seen holding the drum. The boys, a group from Kentucky who was in DC for the March for Life, had been standing, clustered together as the other group approached. In the video, before the boy and the man even come face to face, the group of boys can be seen giggling, clapping, and in my opinion, mocking the group. They do not look sincerely engaged and are turning around and laughing with each other after the man turns away from each boy.

It later surfaced that a group known as the “Black Hebrew Israelites” was also present. And apparently the boys were fighting with the Israelites initially. The boys and the Israelites were reportedly using slurs and escalating tension with each other. In an interview, the Native American man expressed that he and his group then decided to exit the escalating situation. As the man continues to lead the group, the boys begin to step out of the way. The man also expressed in an interview that it was of high importance of him and his people to finish their song at the Lincoln Memorial.

The man then approaches the boy, and here is where the situation gets complicated. The boy is within his rights to stand still, to smile, and to obstruct the group’s route. However, in an interview, the boy expressed that he felt “threatened,” but still chose to stand there. If he was truly in danger, would he have stood there? And as I see it, although he was within his rights not to move, that does not mean that he was functioning under a good moral compass.

I would hate to live in a world where legality equated to morality. The only reason I say that this is an immoral act is that this was evidently a cultural song, but the boy decided to stand still to prove some obscure point rather than respect the group and their destination. Again, I do not believe people should simply succumb to the wishes of others, but in this scenario, the most respectful decision would have been to step away.

On the other hand, the Native American man should not have been that close to the boy. This was a clear invasion of space and I also see that as disrespectful.

This situation is a clear mark of what America has become. Neither side budges, because they each view the other as being wrong or in some way lesser. And while I do side with the Native Americans on this one, I can see that this was in fact a two-sided scenario. I think it is wrong for the teenager to be receiving death threats and harassment, but I do believe that he had every opportunity to step away. I think that the story would be very different if the boy had upheld the respect that people who wear that hat claim to have for others.

Before I begin I want to make something very clear. I am in no way condoning, taunting, or harassing people of any background, religion, or race. All people deserve to be treated with respect, even if they do not share my morals.

On Friday, January 18, the March For Life took place in Washington D.C. The total amount of people who attended this event is estimated to be somewhere in between 200,000 and 300,000. Among the massive crowds was a group of high school students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky. Towards the end of their trip, many of the students went to the Lincoln Memorial. There, as the world now knows, a few short videos were taken of 16-year-old, Nick Sandmann, appearing to be blocking and harassing a Native American, Nathan Phillips, while other students in the background were chanting and yelling. The video sparked a widespread backlash against Sandmann, and rightfully so.

Truthfully, when I first saw the video I was very angry. As a Republican and a former private school kid, I thought, “Great. This idiot kid who is clearly in the wrong has now made things way worse than they already are for young Republicans.” The video made me frustrated and disappointed because it would give the mainstream media another chance to make inaccurate generalizations about the Republican Party and the Catholic community.

Days later, my dad asked me if I had seen the whole video and Sandmann’s response. The “new” video was taken by someone outside of the circle where the encounter between Phillips and Sandmann took place. The video, or should I say the whole video, shows the students originally being harassed by a group called the Black Hebrew Israelites, who were shouting at the students, calling them “crackers” and “pompous bastards” and telling the group to “go back to Europe.” The group then asked permission to chant their school spirit song, which they were allowed to and did.

Then Nathan Phillips entered the circle and reportedly singled out Nick Sandmann. And here begins the video we have all seen of the two standing face to face with Sandmann smirking.

As I stated before, the first version of the video looks pretty bad for Republicans who are constantly called some awful term like racist, homophobe, or Nazi. The video clip that spread like wildfire around the internet shows a stupid teenage boy being arrogant and disrespectful. There is simply no way of getting around that. But does that make it okay to send this boy death threats, to threaten to hurt him and his family, to call him awful horrible names? Does it make it okay for celebrities like Kathy Griffin to say things like “I want NAMES. Shame them. If you think these f—ers wouldn’t dox you in a heartbeat, think again.”

No. This 16-year-old kid has half the United States incensed at him for an edited video clip.

This kid is a high school junior, which means he is soon going to start applying for college. I can guarantee that there will be at least a few schools who turn him down because of this edited video clip. This kid will have to suffer serious effects due to attacks from people, some of whom are prominent, who see only the side they want to see. This kid is going to suffer. He is scared for himself and his family and that is not something a kid should have to go through.