A Native American college student and the executive director of the White House Initiative of American Indian and Alaska Native Education allegedly got into a brawl at a pow-wow in Washington, D.C., over the student's Redskins jersey, News 9 reports. While the men's accounts of who started the incident differ entirely, both agree that punches were thrown.
Barrett Dahl, of Oklahoma, is a member of the Choctaw, Sac, and Fox Nations, and "says he wore the Redskins shirt because he was in Washington, D.C., and because he sees it as a sense of cultural pride," News 9 reports. Dahl, who is autistic, alleges that White House official William Mendoza approached him at the pow-wow and said, "You're a 'weetard' for not understanding 'Redskins' is offensive."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The two also agree that this is when they got into an argument: Mendoza says Dahl swore at him; Dahl says Mendoza spit on him. Then the physical fight erupted, although it is also unclear who started it. Both men were reportedly injured.
Dahl claims he underwent multiple surgeries after the brawl and wants to sue Mendoza. Mendoza is apparently also considering legal action: "Should Mr. Dahl continue to malign Mr. Mendoza he will have no other choice but to pursue all available legal remedies," Mendoza's lawyer told News 9.
-
The rise in unregulated pregnancy scansUnder The Radar Industry body says some private scan clinics offer dangerously misleading advice
-
Democrats seek 2026 inspiration from special election routsIN THE SPOTLIGHT High-profile wins are helping a party demoralized by Trump’s reelection regain momentum
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind,’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
