Grand Jury Hits Man Who Stole MAGA Hat in Viral Video with Very Bad News
The man who was caught in a video stealing a MAGA cap from a teenager at a Whataburger in San Antonio, Texas, and then throwing a drink in his face has been charged with theft of person by a grand jury, according to KHOU-TV.
Kino Jimenez, 30, will face trial for the charge, “a state jail felony, for the incident that went viral nationwide and gained responses from the Trump administration.”
“Police arrested Jimenez at his home in Universal City on July 6 without incident. Jimenez was also fired from his job.
“According to an arrest warrant, the victim and two witnesses were dining at the Whataburger restaurant in the 12300 block of Nacogdoches Road around 2 a.m. on the Fourth of July when a man approached their table.”
That was Jimenez, who demanded to know why he was wearing the hat. When the young man in question, Hunter Richard, said it was because he was a Trump supporter, things got ugly.
“The suspect became upset with his response and ripped the hat off of his head, according to the arrest warrant.”
“The victim told police this is when he removed his cell phone from his pocket and began recording the incident. At that point, the suspect grabbed a cup containing ‘a liquid beverage with ice’ and tossed it in the victim’s face. The suspect then left the restaurant with the victim’s hat in hand.
“The victim’s mother later posted the cellphone video of the incident the victim was able to capture. Numerous individuals were able to identify Jimenez from the post.
“A family member later also called the police and reported Jimenez, according to the arrest paperwork.”
Jimenez’s trial is scheduled to begin on October 19.
There are several things in the indictment that seem to stick out. The first is no mention of an unconfirmed report, widely circulated in the media, that Richard had possibly precipitated the incident with racist banter.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that wasn’t the case but it seems to be a bit of a confirmation that the issue wasn’t one of racism.
Indeed, Jimenez himself seemed to confirm this as he exited jail, with KSAT-TV reporting he said, “what happened was a lapse in judgment that was out of character for him” and “seeing the hat had the same effect on him that a Ku Klux Klan hood would have had.”
Right.
We’ll certainly see what happens here, but things aren’t exactly looking great for Jimenez.
Between his self-incrimination and the fact that he considers a MAGA cap to be equivalent to a Klan hood (if that doesn’t make your eyes involuntarily roll, almost nothing will), Jimenez certainly isn’t going to have the easiest time getting out of this one.
The next time someone thinks of illegally intimidating someone for wearing a MAGA cap, perhaps they’ll consider this. Richard, meanwhile, seems a little worse for wear:
#Update: Teen who made national news after having #MAGA hat stolen at a San Antonio fast food restaurant just got this in the mail. A hat signed by @realDonaldTrump.
See the video: https://t.co/LAUcjERTNc @News4SA @KABBFOX29 pic.twitter.com/akzNSp4ps8
— Joe Galli (@JoeGalliNews) July 11, 2018
#MAGA, indeed.
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