A couple was brutally beaten in Oklahoma over their support for President Donald Trump after a fight broke out because of their “Trump 2020” flag attached to their truck, according to authorities.
It happened after the victim and his girlfriend arrived at a gas station in the Bricktown area in Oklahoma City early on Monday, a witness told KOCO-TV. Shortly after, a verbal altercation between the suspects and the victims started that resulted in a fight. The couple reportedly sustained severe injuries to the face.
“A full altercation ensued where a victim and a second victim got injured,” Oklahoma City Police Department Sergeant Megan Morgan told the network.
According to the responding officers, the man was bleeding from his nose, mouth, and eyes. The suspects also tore the flag off the man’s truck.
Investigators are now working on identifying the assault suspects, but the gas station could not provide any surveillance footage because they don’t have exterior security cameras, a store clerk told police, KOCO-TV reported. The report also says that a group of motorcycle riders were present at the time of the assault, but were not cooperative with investigators.
Authorities said the group refused to help and identify the assault suspects and instead offered “the usual anti-police rhetoric.” Oklahoma City police are now asking the public for help in obtaining information, though no picture, identification, or vehicle description has been released at this time.
Both verbal and physical political violence cases have escalated in recent months ahead of the 2020 election. A 7-year-old boy also became the victim of an alleged robbery after a woman in her 20s stole the boy’s Make America Great Again hat in late August.
In the latest case, a woman was arrested over the weekend for assaulting a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran because he showed support for the president by having a Trump flag and sign.
Kiara Dudley, 34, reportedly walked up to the elderly veteran and a woman who were standing at an intersection with pro-Trump signs just after noon on Oct. 17, CBS Boston reported.
Dudley began yelling at the veteran to leave and started to insult them as they tried to move away from her. The woman then continued with slamming her body into the elderly man and stepping on his “Veterans for Trump” sign.
As the man tried to pick up his sign, Dudley knocked the elderly veteran to the ground which resulted in an injury to his hand, investigators said.
Witnesses who saw Dudley assaulting the elderly people called police who then arrested her. She has been charged with assault and battery on an elderly person causing injury, police said. She reportedly posted a $250 bail on Monday.
