Pair Accused Of Pummeling Man In MAGA Hat Cleared Of All Charges
As The Inquisitr previously reported, a man wearing a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat, Luke Lenzner, accused Leopold A. Hauser and Adebisi A. Okuneye of attacking him at Portland, Oregon, bar Growler’s Taproom. Although he claims the pair attacked him for wearing a MAGA hat, subsequent reports suggested that he was threatening patrons at another bar, The Vern, earlier in the night, casting doubt on his story of the events. Lenzner also admitted that he didn’t serve in the military, despite saying so during a confrontation at The Vern.
The Oregonian reports that a Multnomah County grand jury declined to indict Hauser and Okuneye Thursday, which lead to the court dismissing the case.
According to Lenzner, the pair were not indicted because of Portland’s “radical” political leanings.
“I know who hit me, who assaulted me,” he said. “In any other city they would have been indicted.”
Lenzner claims he continues to wear his MAGA hat but doesn’t wear it in Portland bars or establishments.
“It’s just one more reason to move out of this state,” he said.
The polarizing nature of President Donald Trump has made the MAGA hat controversial. Per CBS New York, Jahangir Turan was attacked by a group of 15 to 18 teenagers for wearing the hat in New York
“One girl flipped my hat, and then within five, eight seconds, I got pushed from the back and my face hit the scaffolding pole,” Turan said.
Portland grand jury clears pair accused of pummeling man in MAGA hat outside of bar https://t.co/qLB0ouj0rF pic.twitter.com/48GuiQmfql
— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) September 6, 2019
Although Turan suffered from a bloodied eye and fractured cheekbone, there is one silver lining to the story — he received a new hat signed by Trump himself as well as a letter of support.
“The violent and criminal act against you and your political beliefs was wrong,” the letter reads. “As you recover, be reminded of the fact that millions of Americans have you in their thoughts.”
In another case, Yahoo News reported that Jeffrey Omari, a visiting assistant professor at the Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, wrote a commentary in the American Bar Association Journal in which he suggested that MAGA hats are an “undeniable symbol of white supremacy.”
In response, Gonzaga Law student Austin Phelps, a student of Omari’s, penned his own piece in the ABA Journal and revealed that he realized his choice to wear a MAGA hat was the likely reason that he wasn’t called upon in class as frequently as left-leaning students. He also claims that free speech allows him to not only wear a MAGA hat but tell Omari that he is “wrong.”
