MAGA hat-wearing teen assaulted at polling place, police make an arrest

A 34-year-old New Hampshire man has been arrested for assaulting a 15-year-old boy at a polling location during the New Hampshire primary held on Tuesday. It is reported he will be arraigned Friday.

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The boy was excited to be experiencing the primary voting scene. He was wearing a MAGA hat and holding a sign at a Trump campaign tent outside of Windham High School with other supporters and workers. Patrick Bradley is accused of slapping the boy across his face as he left the polling place. Two adult men stepped in and Bradley assaulted them, too. Bradley also threw Trump campaign signs and attempted to knock over the tent.

Bradley was arrested Thursday and charged with three counts of simple assault, a Class A misdemeanor, and one count of violation level disorderly conduct, according to the Windham Police Department. He is being held on a $5000 cash bail. He is being held on administrative hold for a probation violation.

This is the latest story of violence towards Trump supporters by angry anti-Trump adults. Slapping a teenager across his face, though, takes Trump Derangement Syndrome to a new level. It conjures up the case of Nick Sandmann and the Covington kids, doesn’t it? In that particular case, though, the *ahem* adult invading Sandmann’s space didn’t physically assault him as he tried to intimidate the kid. Now this fifteen-year-old in New Hampshire is traumatized, according to his mom. Cathy Campbell, the boy’s mom, asked for her son to remain anonymous as she described the incident.

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“My son stayed home from school on Tuesday for a doctor’s appointment and we drove by the high school to go vote. When we got there, we saw Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, and my son was over the moon,” Campbell told Fox News. “My son is the most patriotic kid you’d ever meet in your life. I was apprehensive about him wearing the MAGA hat, because we know it can provoke and we know people don’t like Trump. But he wore the hat because he’s a proud 15-year-old and he doesn’t know what people are going to be like.”

The Trump campaign confirmed to Fox News that both Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle were at the polling location Tuesday afternoon.

Donald Trump, Jr. updated his original tweet on Friday morning, complaining that major news outlets are not covering the story.

Corey Lewandowski was also at this polling place and told Fox News, “My 8-year-old was holding a sign an hour before that.” “It’s appalling and disgusting that someone is attacked physically for supporting the president of the United States, let alone a child.”

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The New Hampshire Republican Party tweeted that it is “a despicable and unacceptable act” along with their appreciation that law enforcement acted quickly.

A twist to this story is that the teen’s father is a first responder and he was called to the scene after the attack. He says his son is okay, but the father is worried about his son’s safety after Bradley is released from jail. It’s a legitimate concern these days. It’s hard to believe that grown adults can lose control of themselves so quickly over the mere sight of a red MAGA cap or a Trump campaign sign. It’s bad enough when immature college students behave badly and try to destroy a table of Trump campaign literature during a voter registration drive or when someone drives into a tent set up by the Republican Party but slapping a kid learning to take part in the political process is beyond the pale. That is not the civics lesson any child needs.

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Beege Welborn 5:00 PM | December 24, 2024
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