Berkeley student assaulted for MAGA hat one day after riots
A student sporting a Make America Great Again hat was abruptly assaulted at the University of California, Berkeley Thursday, not even a day after the violent riots that put campus on lockdown.
[RELATED: Only one arrest, at most, made night of Berkeley riots]
A video recorded halfway through the encounter shows a white SUV that had come to a halt in the middle of an intersection on campus, from which two aggressors emerge and punch a Trump-supporting student who was passing by, identifying him as such by the red “MAGA” hat he was wearing.
The student—who was wearing one of Trump’s token Make America Great Again hats at the time of the exchange—was later identified as Jack Palkovic, a member of Berkeley’s College Republicans chapter who helped organize Wednesday night’s events.
CBS reports that two unidentified men emerged from the vehicle, yanked the Trump hat from Palkovic’s head, and began to beat him until bystanders eventually intervened.
Although the two men attempted to flee the scene, police officers were able to prevent their escape, and placed both men in custody.
[RELATED: Berkeley riots lay bare liberal hypocrisy on free speech]
A friend of Palkovic’s, J. Marine Diaz, was on the scene at the time of the attack, and has since claimed that he will be pressing charges against both suspects.
“While in the middle of an interview with CNN, my good friend Jack was attacked by two men. I left the interview and ran over to the fight to help him,” Diaz explained in a recent Facebook post. “The two violent attackers are now in custody and Jack and I are safe. I will be pressing charges.”
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @AGockowski
