UC Riverside student who stole MAGA hat could be charged

A college student who stole a classmate’s ‘Make America Great Again’ hat and demanded its wearer be punished could face felony charges in the incident.

University of California, Riverside student Edith Macias grabbed the hat off of Matthew Vitale’s head on September 27, documenting the incident in a profanity-laced video.

Initially, Vitale said he hadn’t planned to press charges against Macias, but that changed when a campus police officer told him her own bizarre video could be evidence of a felony, since it shows her taking the hat directly off of his person.

‘Honestly, this isn’t me trying to get revenge on her,’ Vitale said in an interview with Fox News, revealing his intent to press charges.

‘This is me just trying to say: “Look, behavior like this is not tolerated in this country”,’ he continued.

University of California, Riverside student Edith Macias is seen in stills from a video after snatching a Make America Great Again hat from the head of  

Vitale, a member of the campus Republicans, says he plans to press charges. ‘I very strongly believe that if she had been wearing a Malcom X cap or a pro-abortion cap, and I had snatched it off her head… I would be sitting in jail right now,’ Vitale said in a new interview

California law defines second-degree felony robbery as ‘taking of personal property in the possession of another, from his person or immediate presence, and against his will, accomplished by means of force or fear.’ Penalties range from probation to five years in prison. 

‘I very strongly believe that if she had been wearing a Malcom X cap or a pro-abortion cap, and I had snatched it off her head and ran down to student life and turned her in and demanded that she be kept from wearing that hat, I very firmly believe that I would be sitting in jail right now,’ Vitale said in another interview, with the Larry Elder Show.

Following the incident, comrades of Macias posted a petition demanding that the university pay Macias’ rent, grant her amnesty from legal or disciplinary action, cover her legal fees, condemn ‘white supremacist violence’, and support a ‘sanctuary campus’.

University officials have been vague in their public statements about the incident, speaking of a need to balance respect with free speech. 

‘The university stands very strongly for free speech and its protections, and for a congenial dialogue on campus,’ university spokesman John Warren told Fox. ‘The students on our campus have used this episode to affirm their support for free expression, and a productive exchange of ideas.’

Two videos of the hat-snatching incident and one Vitale’s subsequent conversation with campus police were viewed by millions before they were removed by Facebook for reasons that are unclear.  

Vitale was stunned when his fellow student snatched the hat and accused him of genocide

The staff manages to convince Macias to turn over the hat and it is returned to Vitale, but not before Macias is caught on video protesting their actions (left and right).  She says: ‘[The education system] geared to benefit white people, white people, not me’

In the one, Macias is seen snatching the hat off of Vitale’s head during a meeting of student organizations at the University of California, Riverside.

Vitale then films Macias arguing with him as they make their way to the school’s student life office.

Stunned staff members look on as Vitale demands his hat be given back and Macias demands the school prohibit him from wearing it. 

‘This is mine. You do not get to take other people’s property that is legally theirs in this county,’ Vitale, a member of the school’s College Republicans club, tells Macias.

‘Man, f**k- your laws,’ she replies.

Later in the video, Vitale says: ‘I have a freedom of speech to wear this hat.’

‘Your f**king freedom of speech is genocide, homeboy! Is that what you are trying to represent?’ she asks.

 Vitale is seen after retrieving the hat. Two videos of the incident garnered millions of views, but were quietly removed from Facebook for reasons that are unclear

In a video posted after the incident, Vitale said he was attending an annual school-organized meeting where leaders of student groups listen to presentations about combating hazing and sexual harassment. 

This is where Macias grabbed the hat and sprinted off. 

The staff manages to convince Macias to turn over the hat and it is returned to Vitale, but not before Macias is caught on video protesting their actions.

‘Oh my God, you’re going to keep letting him wear it? That just shows how the f**k UCR is and the education system,’ Macias says as staff hands the hat back to Vitale.

‘It’s geared to benefit white people, white people, not me.’

Macias then turns to leave as she’s met at the door by campus police officers, saying: ‘I don’t want to talk to none of y’all.’