Twitter takes down account that helped spread Lincoln Memorial confrontation video
Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky is reopened Wednesday morning after safety concerns shuttered it Tuesday in the wake of a videotaped encounter involving its students, Native American marchers, and black activists in Washington.
Police officers will be stationed across campus through the evening and will remain in place as long as needed. The school said it closed school following, "threats of violence" against the students. Meanwhile, the school is promising a third-party investigation into what happened, reports CBS News' David Begnaud.
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Demonstrators led by Native American advocates gathered outside the Roman Catholic diocese of Covington, Kentucky on Tuesday. They said they wanted to turn Friday's confrontation into a teachable moment.
At one point, both sides appeared to reconcile their differences. A person in a "Make America Great Again" hat shook hands with a Native American man and suggested they sit down and share a cup of coffee or a meal.
Multiple videos have emerged of Friday's incident, some showing a radical group known as the Black Hebrew Israelites taunting the group of Covington Catholic High School students who had just participated in a March For Life anti-abortion rally.
But it was one moment between Native American activist Nathan Phillips and Covington student Nick Sandmann that caused outrage. Some believed Sandmann was being disrespectful, but he said he was helping to defuse the situation.
"As far as standing there, I had every right to do so. I don't – my position is that I was not disrespectful to Mr. Phillips. I respect him. I'd like to talk to him," Sandmann told the "Today Show."
The Twitter account that helped spread the initial video has been removed. The user -- @2020Fight -- claimed to be a teacher and advocate named Talia from California with a photo appearing to show Brazilian model and actress Natalia Cardoso.
In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said "deliberate attempts to manipulate the public conversation on Twitter by using misleading account information is a violation of the Twitter rules."
"The lesson here is really to question, what is the genuine source of this content and how is it being framed? And then, how is that framing elevated by the news media that you're looking through?" said Louise Matsakis, who writes about cybersecurity and online culture for Wired.
There were some questions as to where the account originated from and we're told Twitter has every indication that it was a U.S.-based account. Natalia Cardoso has not commented publicly on the controversy.
House Intelligence lawmakers are reportedly asking Twitter about how the initial video came to be so widely viewed so fast.
The White House said it's reached out to the Covington Catholic students and hasn't ruled out inviting them to Washington.