Woman says she was attacked for wearing MAGA gear: 'This happened because we wore those hats'

Days after a Trump supporter was kicked out of a New York City bar for wearing a Make America Great Again visor and a 14-year-old boy accused a school bus aide of removing his MAGA cap, a young woman is claiming that the controversial headgear got her “viciously attacked” on a recent night out.

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Haley Maddox posted a video last Saturday to recount an incident she says took place in Austin, Texas, on March 2. Maddox is wearing a red MAGA cap and has a black eye in the video; according to her Instagram posts, the injury stems from the alleged March 2 attack. Other posts reference a leg injury and claim that she “almost died” supporting Trump.

“On Saturday night me and my girlfriends were viciously attacked by an entire bar of people, men and women included, for wearing MAGA hats,” she says in the video. “We did not go in with the intentions of starting a fight. We were just wearing our MAGA hats out on a Saturday and we wanted to show our support for Texas Independence week.

“We asked one of the bartenders to help us and he ended up choking out one of my friends,” she alleges.

Maddox says that after leaving the bar and calling the cops “another random man came and attacked us again — all over our hats.”

She goes on to slam the Austin Police Department for not taking the matter seriously.

“[They] showed bias, in our opinion, towards us because we were Trump supporters and insinuated that this happened because we wore those hats,” she says.

She adds that her friends “support the cops” but “want justice” after feeling that their alleged attack was not properly investigated.

But other footage, according to the Austin American-Statesman, that has surfaced online alleges that Maddox was drunk and “belligerent” on her night out. The alternate video, filmed outside the bars on East Sixth Street, shows her speaking to police officers, one of whom tells her that “while you’re allowed to wear these hats down here — because we deal with this often, OK? — once it starts inciting riotous behavior, then it becomes a problem.”

The video shows Maddox getting upset about what she calls a violation of her freedom of speech, prompting the officers to try to explain that she and her friends “escalated” the situation by pursuing their alleged attacker.

“You guys are following him, you’re recording him, it’s almost like you’re harassing him at that point,” one officer says.

The camera also captures another officer talking to an unidentified white man, whom Maddox accuses of “throwing” her friend down.

Both videos have caused controversy and divided opinion. Supporters have slammed the police response, accusing Austin of being too liberal. Some even threatened to arm themselves while wearing their own MAGA hats.

Others aren’t so quick to believe Maddox’s account, speculating that it’s a hoax and noting her past social media posts about the Jussie Smollett hate crime investigation as well as attacks on other MAGA-outfitted Trump supporters.

Maddox has responded to the backlash. According to her comments on Instagram, she’s also looking into hiring a lawyer so she can press charges.

“If you think I would want this to happen to me, then you are a sick person,” she wrote. “If you think we deserved what happened to us in any way, then you are a sick person. If you think I love Trump enough to die for him, then you are a sick person.”

The APD meanwhile, has confirmed that a police report was filed and is under investigation.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Teacher’s assistant calls student ‘racist and sexist’ and wraps MAGA flag around his head in video
• High school students reportedly asked to leave school for wearing MAGA attire during spirit week
• High schooler faces potential criminal charge after video of him knocking MAGA hat off fellow student goes viral

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