Md. high schooler attacked for wearing pro-Trump hat
A suspect was in custody Wednesday and will be charged with second-degree assault after attacking another student who wore a hat bearing the words "Make America Great Again" - the campaign slogan of President-elect Donald Trump, according to WUSA9 Television.
The incident happened on Wednesday as high school students took part in a walkout protesting the president elect, according to Principal Damon Monteleone of Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Md., 17 miles northwest of Washington.
"Unfortunately, the otherwise peaceful protest was marred by a physical altercation between two students who had opposing political viewpoints," Monteleone wrote in a letter to parents on Wednesday. "This is unacceptable," he wrote, adding that the student would receive appropriate punishment based on the Montgomery County Public Schools Student Code of Conduct.
WUSA9 reported that several students beat up the 15-year-old victim. The teen suffered scrapes on his knee and told police he hit his head, reported WUSA9. He walked himself to an ambulance, the news organization reported.
Three adults told WUSA9 they saw multiple students punch and kick the 15-year-old boy.
“A hand went up and then all four jumped on top of him and that’s when I ran over to try and stand over him," said Veronica Vaca, a parent who came to monitor the protest in support of her daughter.
The Rockville City Police Department, which responded to the incident, did not respond to a telephone message.
Wednesday marked the third day that students in metropolitan Washington have protested Trump's White House victory over Hillary Clinton, with many bringing up Trump's promise to build a wall between the United States and Mexico to keep out immigrants and his stance against abortion. High school students across the country in fact have been staging walkouts against the election, in which Trump won 290 electoral votes compared to Clinton's 232.
Nationwide, hate incidents against Clinton supporters, Muslims and minorities have been reported, but less so incidents such as Wednesday's against Trump supporters. In Meriden, Conn., on Saturday, police arrested two men charged with beating and kicking a man who held a Trump sign. In New York, police were looking for a man who choked another man who wore a "Make America Great Again" hat on the subway on Friday.
In Rockville, Principal Monteleone wrote to parents that students at their school typically respect one anothers' varying viewpoints.
"Indeed, students have shown me over the past two years that they are what our American society should strive to become," he wrote. "While we are entitled to our own viewpoints and opinions, we must be respectful of opinions that differ from our own."
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