Charges dropped against pair accused in ‘MAGA’ hat attack
By Joshua Rhett Miller
September 6, 2019 | 11:23am
Adebisi Okuneye, Leopold HauserMultnomah County Jail
Criminal charges have been dropped against two people accused of assaulting a man outside an Oregon bar for wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, prosecutors said.
A grand jury in Multnomah County on Thursday declined to indict Adebisi Okuneye, 23, and Leopold Hauser, 22, in the Aug. 24 dust-up at Growler’s Taproom in Portland, where police arrested them after another man at the bar, Luke Lenzner, 34, told cops he was attacked over his hat in support of President Trump, The Oregonian reports.
Lenzner told police Okuneye “got in his face” shortly after he arrived at the bar while on a date with his wife, prompting him to push Okuneye to create distance between the two. Hauser then punched Lenzner in the face, court documents show.
But Okuneye told police that Lenzner was the instigator in the altercation, pointing to his hat as he left the bar just prior to the fight and shouting an expletive at the woman.
“B—-, do you like my hat?” Lenzner told the woman, she told cops.
Hauser and Okuneye, who also punched Lenzner, his wife told police, then hopped into a van and drove off. They were later arrested on third-degree assault charges.
Lenzner’s wife also told police she encouraged her husband to wear the hat to see what kind of reaction it would generate in Portland, according to a probable cause affidavit. Lenzner said the city’s “radical” left-leaning political ideology was to blame for the charges being dropped against Okuneye and Hauser.
“I know who hit me, who assaulted me,” Lenzner told The Oregonian. “In any other city, they would have been indicted.”
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office, meanwhile, said the office does not prosecute people “based on their ideologies or affiliations” with political or non-political organizations.
“The District Attorney’s Office will initiate a criminal case following a review of all available evidence and whenever legally and ethically appropriate, pursuant to state law,” a spokesman told KATU in a statement.
But Lenzner’s version of events was thrown into question after video surfaced showing him clashing with customers at another bar hours before the assault. Lenzner had also claimed that he was a veteran, which he later confessed wasn’t true, The Oregonian reports.
And while Lenzner still wears his “Make America Great Again” hat in his neighborhood, he has stopped wearing the cap in bars in Portland, he said.
“It’s just one more reason to move out of this state,” he told the newspaper.
https://nypost.com/2019/09/06/charges-dropped-against-pair-accused-in-maga-hat-attack/
By Joshua Rhett Miller
September 6, 2019 | 11:23am
Adebisi Okuneye, Leopold HauserMultnomah County Jail
Criminal charges have been dropped against two people accused of assaulting a man outside an Oregon bar for wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, prosecutors said.
A grand jury in Multnomah County on Thursday declined to indict Adebisi Okuneye, 23, and Leopold Hauser, 22, in the Aug. 24 dust-up at Growler’s Taproom in Portland, where police arrested them after another man at the bar, Luke Lenzner, 34, told cops he was attacked over his hat in support of President Trump, The Oregonian reports.
Lenzner told police Okuneye “got in his face” shortly after he arrived at the bar while on a date with his wife, prompting him to push Okuneye to create distance between the two. Hauser then punched Lenzner in the face, court documents show.
But Okuneye told police that Lenzner was the instigator in the altercation, pointing to his hat as he left the bar just prior to the fight and shouting an expletive at the woman.
“B—-, do you like my hat?” Lenzner told the woman, she told cops.
Hauser and Okuneye, who also punched Lenzner, his wife told police, then hopped into a van and drove off. They were later arrested on third-degree assault charges.
Lenzner’s wife also told police she encouraged her husband to wear the hat to see what kind of reaction it would generate in Portland, according to a probable cause affidavit. Lenzner said the city’s “radical” left-leaning political ideology was to blame for the charges being dropped against Okuneye and Hauser.
“I know who hit me, who assaulted me,” Lenzner told The Oregonian. “In any other city, they would have been indicted.”
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office, meanwhile, said the office does not prosecute people “based on their ideologies or affiliations” with political or non-political organizations.
“The District Attorney’s Office will initiate a criminal case following a review of all available evidence and whenever legally and ethically appropriate, pursuant to state law,” a spokesman told KATU in a statement.
But Lenzner’s version of events was thrown into question after video surfaced showing him clashing with customers at another bar hours before the assault. Lenzner had also claimed that he was a veteran, which he later confessed wasn’t true, The Oregonian reports.
And while Lenzner still wears his “Make America Great Again” hat in his neighborhood, he has stopped wearing the cap in bars in Portland, he said.
“It’s just one more reason to move out of this state,” he told the newspaper.
https://nypost.com/2019/09/06/charges-dropped-against-pair-accused-in-maga-hat-attack/
