Two Maryland men were arrested for beating and robbing an African immigrant because he was wearing one of President Trump’s Make America Great Again hats, police said Monday.
Montgomery County police collared Jovan Crawford, 27, and Scott Duncan Roberson, 25, for allegedly pummeling Togo native Atsu Mable over his Trump cap, according to cops and local media.
Mable was going for a stroll April 13 when the pair accosted him and demanded to know why he was sporting the campaign gear, cops said.
“They were asking me, ‘Hey bro, why did you put that hat on?’ And I didn’t say anything, I just passed by,” Mable told WJLA-TV.
Then the duo “began striking the victim and telling him to take the hat off” and beat him “until he fell to the ground,” police said in a press release.
“They felt like a black man should not be wearing a Trump hat because it’s like when you are black, you have to be a Democrat,” Mable said. “I’ll wear it again.”
Crawford and Roberson, who are also black, allegedly smashed a pair of Mable’s headphones and tried to steal his cellphone, Mable said.
They ran when a good Samaritan called police — and were found attempting to hide among children playing on a basketball court, police said.
They both face charges of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, assault, and theft, according to officials. Crawford was also hit with one count of malicious destruction of property.
Mable said he immigrated to the US in 2007, learned English, and became a citizen on Valentine’s Day 2013.
He did not register a party affiliation until 2016, when Trump inspired him to become a Republican.
“I like everything that he does” Mable said of the president. “Like, I came here legally, Why can’t all people come here legally then? I went through the right process, the proper channels and I’m here, so why can’t they do the same thing?”