Maryland Man Attacked for Wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ Hat Speaks Out

Germantown resident Jovan Crawford, 27, (L) and Washington DC resident Scott Roberson, 25, are suspected of attacking a man in Germantown, Md., on April 13, 2019. Courtesy of Montgomery County Department of Police fifth district

A Maryland man who police said was attacked for wearing a “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hat says that he will not stop wearing the gear, which is usually worn by supporters of President Donald Trump.

Jovan Crawford, 27, and Scott Duncan Roberson, 25, were arrested and charged with robbing and assaulting Atsu Mable in Germantown on April 13. Police said that Mable was walking when the two men began harassing him because of the hat.

“The victim told the suspects that he was entitled to his own views and kept walking away from the suspects. The suspects began striking the victim and telling him to take the hat off,” police said in a statement. “The victim continued to be struck by the suspects until he fell to the ground. The suspects then removed property from the victim, and destroyed items of value. The suspects then fled the scene.”

Officers tracked down the suspects, noting they were “attempting to hide among a group of children playing basketball.

Mable said in a new interview that he has a message for the men who allegedly attacked him.

“I have a message for love—that Jesus said in the Bible that you must love your neighbor, so I still love them. I think whatever happened to me that day should not happen to anybody,“ Mable said during an appearance on ”Fox & Friends“ on April 17. “I forgive them. I’m ready to make peace with them if I could see them again.”

Mable, who said that he was taking a walk after dinner over the weekend when Crawford and Roberson approached him, said that he wondered why the men got upset at the hat. He said that he won’t stop wearing the hat to show his support for Trump.

“I like the message that the president brought back in 2015 when he was running,” Mable said. “I’m very proud of wearing the hat.”

Mable previously said that he tried to ignore the remarks by Crawford and Roberson but they soon jumped him after he passed by.

“All of a sudden, I got a punch on my head. Boom!” Mable told WJLA. “They took my headphones and smashed it to the ground and tried to take my phone.”

He said that a bystander called 911 to report the assault.

“I was falling back onto the ground,“ Mable said. ”They were punching me on my head. Suddenly I thank God for that bystander that came by and called the police.”

The sound of the sirens prompted the men to flee the scene.

Mable said that he immigrated to the United States from Togo, an African nation, in 2007, and became an American citizen in 2013. He said that he was a longtime political independent but that he came to support Trump.

“He cares about the middle man,” Mable said of Trump. “He is all about the nation. What’s wrong with that?”

He said that people have cursed at him before when they see his hat.

“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,” said Mable. “I’ll wear it again. The movement is still going on, Trump is still in power and in 2020 we will win again.”