Liberal Who Stole Student’s Hat Not Smiling After Learning Where She’ll Be Going

A University of California Riverside student who had their “Make America Great Again” hat stolen by a fellow student pressed charges against the accused thief.

Matthew Vitale pressed charges against Edith Macias after the young woman stole his pro-President Donald Trump hat off of his head during a campus event. Macias posted a video of the theft online, which was later removed, and explained her reasoning in an accompanying post.

“Make America Great Again’ coded ‘Continue the Genocide of POC’. You feel safe cuz you got the cops and politicians on your side. Youre not safe… just saying. We need to make racists scared,” the post read.

Vitale told The College Fix that although he initially decided not to press charges, he ultimately made the decision to pursue charges after police told him that it was a felony to steal something off of someone’s person.

“I do want to send a message. I am not vindictive, I am not vengeful, but people especially in my generation need to realize you can’t do things like this because you don’t like what someone is saying or wearing,” he said.

“Free speech is under attack on campus. As cliche as it sounds, the facts of our laws and our Constitution … don’t care about what you feel. For millennials everywhere who believe their feelings give them the right to step on the rights of others — you are sadly misguided. That is not the real world.”

Following the charges, several students rallied around Macias in her defense, calling for school officials to “pay for alternate housing accommodations for Macias and [her] family while simultaneously covering their current housing costs in order to keep them safe from threats of harm.”

The “Statement of Solidarity with Edith Macias” also called for the school to “grant Macias amnesty and protection from any student or legal charges.”

After the incident went viral, school officials issued a statement via email addressing the controversy.

“Coequal to our dedication to mutual respect is our commitment to free speech and the free exchange of ideas,” the email read. “A university requires an environment where students and scholars can freely express ideas and pursue knowledge, while also promoting respectful dialogue among individuals or groups with opposing viewpoints.”

Many readers called on Macias to be punished by the school for her actions.

“[Expel] her from the university. Her housing is an issue for her parents to deal with and so is her behavior. If they are illegal immigrants then her little ignorant arrogant stunt just caused all of them to be deported. She’s not entitled to anything special because she brought all of this on herself,” one Mad World News reader commented on the site’s Facebook page.

“She needed guidance as a child. Apparently she never got it. Prosecute then take away her federal funded education. She thinks she’s entitled and can do anything she wants. It’s time to step and show these OPPRESSED idiots the world as it is isn’t for her mouth alone,” another added.

Sources: The College Fix, Mad World News/Facebook / Featured Image: Chamtrumping/Wikimedia Commons / Embedded Images: Facebook via The College Fix, The College Fix