Jonathan Schroder was sitting next to his wife when he first saw the viral video of Covington Catholic students facing off with a Native American man in Washington, D.C. He told her right then and there that he would make a documentary based on the encounter.
"I was humiliated to associate myself with the school," Schroder, a Florence native and Covington Catholic alumnus, told The Enquirer.
He was frustrated, embarrassed, angry at the students. There is a sense of pride amongst CovCath graduates – it's a brotherhood, he said. An "intense brotherhood." He didn't like how that brotherhood was being perceived in the clip, which showed then-16-year-old Nicholas Sandmann sporting a Make America Great Again hat, standing face to face with Native American activist Nathan Phillips while Phillips played a drum and chanted. Sandmann's classmates surrounded them, their chants drowning out Phillips.
But then the narrative changed. The boys were instigated, apparently. And, after all, they were just kids. Schroder said people tend to forget that.
And the boys' chanting is a CovCath tradition, Schroder said. He remembers learning the school chants as a teenager, then showing up in mass numbers at football and basketball games and "intimidating the hell out of your opponents."
"That's exactly what happened at the Lincoln Memorial," he said. "The kids treated it like a pep rally."
The shame he felt at first reversed itself, he said. He should have known better than to jump to conclusions. He should have done his homework.
So he got to work.
More: New documentary, 'The Boys in Red Hats,' focuses on Covington Catholic D.C. face-off
Schroder's documentary, "The Boys in Red Hats," premieres Friday and will be shown in Cincinnati. It focuses on that controversial encounter between CovCath students and Phillips on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 18, 2019. The students were there for a March for Life event. Phillips was there for the Indigenous Peoples March.
Schroder said he wasn't able to get in touch with Sandmann for the documentary, and that's fine with him. That's not really what the documentary is for, anyway.
Schroder said he took a more philosophical approach to the story. He wanted to talk to outsiders about how CovCath was perceived in that moment and in the political firestorm that followed on social media.
“I think it is important for the Covington Catholic community to hear from people who are outside of their community. Like, how does the rest of the world see you?” he said.
Schroder is the first to admit that his alma mater exists in a "bubble." He said he remembers his first day at CovCath, which was "a culture shock." Everything from the dress code to the military-like tone of staff members caught him off guard. His teachers cared, deeply, about his grades. The goal was to make the best students and athletes possible – "almost by any means necessary."
But it was also "exhilarating," he said, to be a part of that "gigantic fraternity." Whenever he's moved to a new city since graduating, he's always had a place to stay, a friend and someone to count on. Graduates proudly sport the CovCath logo well into their adult lives. Schroder said friends he's met since never truly understand.
It was hard to get through interviews with people that said negative things about CovCath, Schroder said, but it was necessary.
"It was really challenging not to make the entire documentary a Covington Catholic defense piece," he said. "It would have been easy for me to do. But at the same time, I think it would be lazy."
"The Boys in Red Hats" will be in virtual cinemas and select theaters across the country on Friday. The Esquire Theatre, located at 320 Ludlow Ave. in Clifton, will show the documentary. Showtimes and ticketing are available online.
Source link
