Florida man arrested after spitting on 67-year-old man in a MAGA hat

43-year-old Matthias Ajple was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 67-year-old man in a Make America Great Again hat.

The reported incident occurred at a bar called “Hurricane Grill” in Vero Beach where Ajple allegedly slapped the bill of the older man’s hat, told the man to “go back to Russia, you f****** communist,” and spit on him.

According to the arrest affidavit, 67-year-old Robert Youngblood was seated with two of his friends who witnessed the event. Following the man, Youngblood took down Ajple’s license plate as he fled the bar, and reported the interaction to the police. Cops reviewed the surveillance footage at the bar and confirmed that the incident had taken place as Youngblood had described.

The affidavit further describes a woman named “Laura Torres” who confirmed that she and Ajple were at the bar together and that she had told him to tell the older man to “go back to Russia” as a joke. Though she admits that she didn’t expect him to actually follow through with it.

Upon Ajple’s arrest, he allegedly told police that he was “just trying to protect you guys because I support Law Enforcement, Trump supporters are communist and racist.” He would go on to state: “I don’t even care that I am going to jail, it’s actually exciting, plus I have more time on this earth than he does anyway, he probably feels so good about himself.”

He has been charged with one count of battery.

This is not the first time that the sight of a MAGA hat has inspired violence by someone who disagrees with the message.

In February 2019, a man in Massachusetts was similarly assaulted in a Mexican restaurant after a Brazilian migrant named Rosaine Santos slapped the hat off of his head and began yelling at him. According to reports, Santos was later taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was ordered before an immigration judge for removal.

In July 2018, Kino Jimenez confronted a 16-year-old in a Make America Great Again hat at a San Antonio Whataburger, where a video shows the man allegedly throwing a drink in the face of the teen, using a racial slur, and then walking off with his hat, threatening to burn it. He was arrested and charged with theft of a person.

In March 2019, 19-year-old Ryan M. Salvagno was arrested and charged with assault and harassment after allegedly attacking an 81-year-old man who was wearing a Make America Great Again hat. The older man was attempting to leave a local grocery store with his purchases when he was confronted by the teen, who reportedly grabbed the victim’s hat. This action prompted a struggle which allegedly resulted in...

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