Media forced to admit major correction on Native American accuser in Covington altercation

The Washington Post and other news outlets were forced to correct a major facet of the profile of Nathan Phillips, the accuser at the heart of the altercation with students of Covington Catholic High School that has gone mega-viral.

While many critics of the Catholic students were appealing to Phillips' credibility as a veteran of the Vietnam War, it turns out that this description is less than accurate.

Phillips is a indigenous rights activist and a Marine veteran, but he was never deployed to the Vietnam War.

The Post issued this correction to their interview with Phillips:

Earlier versions of this story incorrectly said that Native American activist Nathan Phillips fought in the Vietnam War. Phillips served in the U.S. Marines from 1972 to 1976 but was never deployed to Vietnam.

Others had used the incorrect description to add credibility to the accusations from Phillips that he had been intimidated by the students at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Andrew Gillum, the Former Democratic candidate to the governorship of Florida, referred to Phillips as a Vietnam War veteran in a tweet meant to scold the Catholic teens.

"It only seems appropriate to honor Vietnam War Veteran," tweeted Gillum, "NATIVE American and Omaha elder, Nathan Phillips, over those who spew hatred and ignorance."

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has had her own issues with fake identity claims, also included the false attribution in her tweet about the altercation.

"Omaha elder and Vietnam War veteran Nathan Phillips endured hateful taunts with dignity and strength, then urged us all to do better," the presidential hopeful tweeted.

Critics of the media have used the event as the latest example of their propensity to jump to conclusions that are damaging to President Donald Trump or his allies and supporters. Some of the students have spoken out against the accusations after more video appeared to show that they were provoked rather than being the aggressors.

Here's the latest on the Covington controversy: