Immigrant who was beaten up and knocked to the ground by two thugs for wearing a MAGA hat in Maryland vows to continue to show support for Trump

  • Police said Atsu Nable was out walking in his neighborhood in Germantown, Maryland on Saturday when two men approached him
  • They allegedly started beating him after he refused to remove his MAGA hat
  • Jovan Crawford, 27, of Germantown, and Scott Duncan Roberson, 25, of Washington D.C., have since been arrested and charged over the incident
  • Nable has since said the ordeal wouldn't deter him from wearing his MAGA hate 
  • Nable, a U.S. citizen who emigrated from Togo in 2007, also said he forgives the two men charged with attacking him 

By Miranda Aldersley For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

An African immigrant who was knocked to the ground and beaten by two men for wearing a Make America Great Again hat says he forgives his alleged attackers and will continue showing support for President Trump.

Police said Atsu Nable was out walking in his neighborhood in Germantown, Maryland on Saturday when two men approached and demanded that he remove the MAGA hat. 

Jovan Crawford, 27, of Germantown, and Scott Duncan Roberson, 25, of Washington D.C., have since been arrested and charged with beating the victim.

Nable told told Fox & Friends on Wednesday that the incident would not deter him from wearing the MAGA hat. 

Atsu Nable said he asked his alleged assailants 'why are you doing this?' and said they told him, 'No, the hat'

Atsu Nable said he asked his alleged assailants 'why are you doing this?' and said they told him, 'No, the hat'

'I'm very proud of wearing the hat,' Nable said. 

Nable, a U.S. citizen who emigrated from Togo in 2007, also said he forgives the two men charged with attacking him. 

'I have a message for love – that Jesus said in the Bible that you must love your neighbor, so I still love them,' he said.

'I think whatever happened to me that day should not happen to anybody. I forgive them. I'm ready to make peace with them if I could see them again.'

Police said the incident unfolded when Crawford and Roberson approached Nable on Saturday and began 'harassing' him and asking why he was wearing the MAGA hat. 

Nable responded that he was 'entitled to his own views' and attempted to walk away. 

'I said 'this is not your problem – it doesn't matter – it's a personal reason,' Nable said. 

He said that when he tried to walk away, he was punched in the back of his head.  

'I was like, 'Why are you doing this?',' Nable said. 'They said, 'No, the hat,' and they started punching me on my head.' 

Scott Duncan Roberson, 25, of Washington D.C., was charged with 2nd degree assault, robbery, conspiracy and attempted theft
Jovan Crawford, 27, of Germantown, faces charges of 2nd degree assault, robbery, conspiracy, attempted theft and malicious destruction of property

Maryland police have arrested Scott Roberson (left) and Jovan Crawford (right) on suspicion of assaulting a man in Germantown on Saturday because he was a MAGA hat

Crawford and Roberson allegedly continued to beat Nable until he fell to the ground. 

They then allegedly stole property from the victim and destroyed some of his more valuable possessions before fleeing the scene.    

Nable said the pair destroyed his headphones and attempted to steal his cellphone. 

He said he had been a longtime Trump supporter and has attended campaign events and even volunteered at the President's inauguration. 

Officers responding to 911 calls arrested the two suspects nearby as they tried to hide among a group of children playing basketball.

Both men were charged with second-degree assault, robbery, conspiracy and attempted theft. Crawford was also charged with malicious destruction of property. 

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