[beat]

Firsthand quote from the VOX article...

“It was getting ugly, and I was thinking: ‘I’ve got to find myself an exit out of this situation and finish my song at the Lincoln Memorial,’” Phillips told the Washington Post in a separate interview. “I started going that way, and that guy in the hat stood in my way, and we were at an impasse. He just blocked my way and wouldn’t allow me to retreat.”

The article is explicit. It notes that Phillips initiated contact because they were harassing another group. But it also makes it clear, with quotes, that he believes they began harassing him instead.

Now, if you want to say Phillips is lying, you can do that, but unless you do that, at least one of your articles does not support your contention.

[fundingshovel]

The article was modified, and the sections in your quote added. I should have used the internet archive originally.

See: https://web.archive.org/web/20190120030012/https://www.vox.c...

[sedor0115]

Greatly looking forward to how beat twists himself in knots to interpret this one as "factually accurate".