Washington State University instructor arrested for alleged assault of student with Trump hat
A Washington State University instructor was arrested in February after he allegedly assaulted a student wearing a red "Take America Back" hat from President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, according to a police report obtained by Fox News Digital.
Patrick Mahoney, who is an instructor at the school, was walking past Jay Sani, a student at the university, just before 11 p.m. on Feb. 28 when he allegedly grabbed Sani's hat and threw it into the roadway, the Pullman Police Department incident report said.
Mahoney then told Sani, "Go get it, b----," according to the report.
Sani told officers that he was walking to a restaurant just off campus grounds to return a food order that had been prepared incorrectly when he encountered Mahoney.
Sani said that when he tried to defend himself, a second man, later identified as Gerald Hoff, "grabbed Sani and took him to the ground."
Sani accused Mahoney of grabbing his head and slamming it into the ground. He also said that he suffered a laceration to his elbow and bruises.
The police report stated that Mahoney later told officers that he had punched Sani in his jaw while he was on the ground. Hoff said he punched Sani in the leg with a closed fist.
Witnesses told police that they saw one man shove another man wearing a Trump hat and throw his food into his face before shoving him to the ground.
Pullman police officers who spoke with Sani following the incident immediately began investigating. The officers quickly located both Mahoney and Hoff in downtown Pullman.
The report states that Mahoney told officers that he saw "ol'boy," referring to Sani, walking around.
"I've seen this guy, f------, on campus before," Mahoney told officers, without mentioning Sani by name. "I know he's like f------ Right Wing dude. He's got a f------, like, Make America Great Again hat."
"You know, you're f------ wearing that hat, you wanted someone to f------ look at it, right," Mahoney told officers, according to the report.
Mahoney continued: "You wanna wear the hat, hey, there's gonna be a price to pay".
When Sani initially reported the alleged assault to officers, he said that he understood that the red Trump hats "incite certain feelings in people," the report said. The officer responded to Sani, saying "that he should be free to wear what he wanted."
Mahoney told officers that the way he acted toward Sani "was the same way that people come up to him and mess with him about his political beliefs," the police report stated.
When an officer asked Mahoney if Sani had done that before the altercation, Mahoney said "no."
Mahoney and Hoff were both arrested and charged with 4th degree assault. The men were later released.
Mahoney is a WSU instructor and a PhD student in the School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, the Daily Evergreen reported. The outlet said that Mahoney was suspended and removed from all classes he previously taught at the university.
The university did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Sani wrote in a Facebook post in March that he wanted to share his story because of "how toxic the left has gotten."
"To make it clear, I hate to say this, but i'm [sic] brown, but forget it," he wrote. "I'm an engineering student that wants to get the degree, and move on. So what if I like someone that you don't like. We have the 1st amendment, and its [sic] not okay that just because you don't like that person, I should be attacked for it. You had a chance in November to oust him, but you didn't."
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