Rep. Thomas Massie has defended the students from Covington Catholic High School who were involved in a confrontation with a Native American man over the weekend in Washington, D.C.

The Kentucky 4th District representative, which includes Northern Kentucky where Covington Catholic is located, said Sunday that after watching “over an hour” of video on the incident, he believed the students got a “brutal lesson in the unjust court of public opinion and social media mobs.”

“I urge everyone to watch the other videos before passing judgement. Would you have remained that composed at that age under those circumstances?” Massie said in a Twitter post.

From the students:CovCath student issues statement with his side of the story

The students have been embroiled in controversy since a short video clip went viral Saturday showing the teens – several of them wearing "Make America Great Again" hats – laughing and hollering as they surrounded Nathan Phillips, a longtime Native American activist and Vietnam veteran, as he chanted and banged a drum in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The video drew widespread condemnation and prompted the school and the Diocese of Covington to issue an apology and promise to take “appropriate action, up to and including expulsion.”

But a one-hour, 46-minute video of the incident presents a fuller picture of the Friday events. It’s more complex, and now that it has surfaced, the rush to judge the teenagers is coming under attack.

In a statement Sunday, Nick Sandmann, a junior at the school who was at the center of the students' apparent confrontation with Phillips, defended himself and his family against “outright lies” in the media. Both videos show Sandmann, who was wearing a MAGA hat, smirking and staring at Phillips for more than two minutes while standing about a foot from him.

In the 2½-page long statement, Sandmann denied he was confronting Phillips, arguing it was the activist who got in his face.

“I believed that by remaining motionless and calm, I was helping to diffuse the situation,’’ Sandmann said. “I realized everyone had cameras and that perhaps a group of adults was trying to provoke a group of teenagers into a larger conflict.’’

Sandmann also said he and his family have received death threats. “I am being called every name in the book, including racist, and I will not stand for this mob-like character assassination of my family’s name," he said.

More:Longer video shows start of the Covington Catholic confrontation

The fuller video would seem to assign more blame on a small group of Black Hebrew Israelites who were in the nation’s capital for the anti-abortion March for Life.

The main speaker for the Black Hebrew Israelites, hollering without a microphone for more than an hour, first tells some demonstrating Native Americans they had their land taken away because they worshiped the wrong god.

When the student party arrives later, the speaker launches into an attack on Catholics and against President Donald Trump. He also calls the mostly white youngsters “crackers.’’

Eventually, the teenagers engage, with one of them taking his shirt off and leading the rest in a cheer. Maintaining a distance of at least 15 feet, they then launch into a chant. That’s when Phillips and his fellow demonstrators walk in, banging drums and getting between the groups, although no confrontation appeared imminent.

The students initially seem to react to the drumming in a good-natured way before their participation appears to become more derisive, highlighted by Sandmann's apparent staredown with Phillips.

At one point, the students break into the kind of chant popular with crowds at Atlanta Braves and Florida State Seminoles games, while a few do a “tomahawk chop.’’

In the video, the Black Hebrew Israelites comment on how Phillips deescalated the situation, but also remark that he’s getting taunted.

Later, the dueling groups get physically closer, though at no point does a physical encounter develop.

Phillips, 64, an elder of the Omaha Nation, was participating in an Indigenous Peoples March that was concluding when he noticed the verbal clash in front of the Lincoln Memorial steps and decided to intervene.

“There was that moment when I realized I've put myself between beast and prey,’’ Phillips told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. “These young men were beastly and these old black individuals was their prey, and I stood in between them and so they needed their pounds of flesh and they were looking at me for that.’’

The incident set off a firestorm on social media, with many celebrities, politicians and pundits weighing in.

James Martin, a well-known Jesuit priest and editor of Jesuit magazine "America," originally called the student's actions "not Catholic" on Twitter but later clarified as new story lines emerged of what happened. He called it a teachable moment on racism and how to have a dialogue.

"We may never know exactly what happened and the various 'sides' may continue to disagree and condemn one another," he wrote. "But I hope the truth emerges and apologies are forthcoming. Mine will be, if necessary. If necessary, I hope the students' will be as well."

Massie on Sunday said the students’ parents and mentors should be proud of the way the students responded.

"In the face of racist and homosexual slurs, the young boys refused to reciprocate or disrespect anyone. Even when taunted by homophobic bigots, which was obviously bewildering to them, they insulted no one,” he wrote.

“It is my honor to represent them.”

Here's a look at Massie's tweets:

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