Political division over the past couple years has consumed the country.

Two sides label each other in such a way that no constructive dialogue can happen. Outrage culture and the media have only fueled this division to an unnecessary level.

Take the recent controversy over the kids of Covington Catholic High School for example.

A two-minute clip posted all over social media revealed a group of kids wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and surrounding a Native American, Nathan Phillips, banging his drums. The kids seemed to be dancing and laughing around this individual, and one stood directly in front of him, smiling.

The media jumped on this story moments after it happened and total outrage ensued.

“How dare these kids harass such a peaceful individual?” “How dare they wear such racist hats?” “How dare they look so smug with their ‘white supremacist’ smirks?”

Celebrities like Kathy Griffin as well as hundreds of journalists asked these questions.

Twitter users were wishing death to these students for what they called “racist,” “shameful” and “disrespectful” behavior.

Hours later, more footage was released, and the two minute clip was circulated online. It turned out the clip was taken completely out of context.

A full two-hour video reveals a group of African Americans shouting slurs at the high school students. Phillips is also seen approaching the kids first and proceeding to bang his drums in their faces.

This action contradicts Phillips’ claim that he was approached and harrassed by the teenagers.

The media, specifically CNN and NBC, accused the boys of racially harassing the senior without all the evidence at their disposal.

But not one single derogatory statement was said to Phillips’ in the two minute video. No one was yelling at this man or keeping him from passing. The boys were only dancing and smiling, and the “disrespect” that was given was created by the media’s lies is nowhere to be found.

This brings out the question: Can we trust our news sources and are they purposely trying to establish a political divide among Americans?

Let’s put aside the politics. It does not matter if you side with the current administration or not. Associating a hat with racism and deeming them bannable because of their offensiveness only creates more division in America.

To say that these kids deserve any harm against them for simply exercising their rights and keeping their cool amongst the onslaught of racial slurs and loud banging in their faces—is pure evil.

This event was meant to spark division. The journalists who took part in this ridiculous narrative to slander these kids should have no right to call themselves “journalists.”

Many celebrities, including Jamie-Lee Curtis, issued apologies for their rush to judgment.

Parents of the main student in question, Nicholas Sandmann, filed a $250,000 lawsuit against The Washington Post for “targeting” and “bullying.” Sandmann claims the Washington Post’s coverage was “a series of false and defamatory print and online articles.” He also claimed that he was used as a pawn in the media’s political war against Trump.

The people and the mainstream media shouldn’t rush stories without all of the information at their disposal.

Everyone should listen to both sides of the story before rushing to make accusations.

If we don’t, then political division will continue to tear us apart.