Over the past few days, a group of boys from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky have become a divisive topic of discussion across social media.
The teenage students caught the world's attention on Sunday when they were filmed interacting with Nathan Phillips, a Native American elder and Vietnam war veteran.
At first, all reports about the incident were critical of the boys, as video footage showed them rallying around Phillips and jeering in an aggressive manor.
Nick Sandmann, the individual seen smirking at Phillips during the altercation, drew the most flak, but later came out with a statement excusing his actions.
A video showing the hour leading up to the incident showed that the boys were initially aggravated by a separate group, and were already riled up before Phillips arrived. They have since used this to claim that they were not mocking the elder, but merely taking part in a "spirit chant".
As more evidence comes to light though, doubts are once again being cast on the students' motivation.
In the past day or two, photographs have emerged showing Covington boys in blackface at a basketball game, and a former student of the school, Christian Bales, has come forward to say he was not surprised at what has happened.
"I was not surprised at all," said Bales, who claims he was prevented from giving a speech at his graduation because of his sexuality. "It was only a matter of time that something this school community did would blow up to this degree, and I think they need to be held accountable."
The group have also been caught on video making offensive comments to women before the confrontation with Phillips.
The eight-second clip (which the poster explains is so short because "we walked by and were surprised to be yelled at. I took my phone out to send it to my friends back home for a laugh") shows a group of a dozen or so boys yelling aggressively at two women.
The poster went on to elaborate: "Also for those asking the full details, the interaction wasn't very complicated. We walked by, they started yelling, we asked them how old they were, they replied 'old enough', kept yelling, and we rolled our eyes and kept walking."
She also added that: "for people wondering what they yelled, all we specifically heard was 'MAGA', 'Build the Wall', and some people say they hear 'slut' at the end of the video."
While all this has been circulating, President Donald Trump has tweeted in support of the boys.
"Looking like Nick Sandman [sic] & Covington Catholic students were treated unfairly with early judgements proving out to be false - smeared by media. Not good, but making big comeback!" he tweeted.
He later added: "Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be. They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good - maybe even to bring people together. It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream!"
Another video going around shows a boy standing near a group of Covington students shouting, "It's not rape if you enjoy it", but it has since been confirmed that he does not attend the Kentucky institution.
