Whataburger Assailant Arrested After Assaulting Teen, Stealing MAGA Hat

A 30-year-old man who threw soda onto a table of teenagers at a San Antonio Whataburger has been arrested for stealing 16-year-old Trump supporter Hunter Richard’s red MAGA hat, according to local news outlet MySanAntonio.com

Kino Ahuitzotl Jimenez was taken into custody at his home in Universal City without incident by robbery task force detectives on a warrant for theft of person, according to the San Antonio Police Department. Bail has not been set according to the county magistrate’s office.

In a video which went viral Wednesday and Thursday, Jimenez can be seen throwing a soda on Richard and two friends at 2:35 a.m. on the 4th of July. As he walks away with the teen’s red MAGA hat, he can be heard shouting “this is gonna go great in my fucking fireplace, bitch,” before walking out of the eatery with another man who filmed the encounter. Footage of the incident taken by one of the victims had just under 8 million views as of this writing. 

So went out for a 2am snack and my friend (wearing a MAGA hat) had his hat stolen and a drink thrown in his face (and mine, you can see my arms on the left of the video) pic.twitter.com/B3QjBFIxPk

— Brax (@brxpug) July 4, 2018

Following the incident, Richard says he wants to sit down and have a conversation with Jimenez to “come to some sort of agreement or neutral ground.” 

Whataburger issued this statement on Thursday morning following the incident: 

“We were shocked to see this video and certainly don’t condone this type of customer behavior in our restaurants. To be clear, no Whataburger employees were involved or witnessed the incident, and we ask that questions be directed to San Antonio PD as we continue supporting their efforts.”

Shortly after the video went viral, Jimenez was fired from his job at San Antonio bar Rumble – which posted the following message on Facebook before they made their account private. 

Hello friends,

It came to our attention earlier this evening that a part-time employee was captured on cell phone video assaulting another person at a local eatery. The assault took place, presumably, because this employee did not agree with the other individuals political stance.

We have since terminated this employee, as his actions go against everything that this establishment stands for.

Rumble has, and always will be, a bar that is as inclusive as any establishment could possibly be. THIS BAR IS A SAFE SPACE FOR EVERYONE! No matter your race, creed, ethnicity, sexual identity, and political stance, you are welcomed here!

We do not condone the actions or behavior that were displayed in the cell phone video, and we never will.

If you have any questions or concerns please message us privately. We support and appreciate your business.

According to a Bexar County clerk court records search, Jimenez has a criminal record spanning 2008 – 2016 which includes vehicle burglary, marijuana possession and a DUI.

Teens anonymously accused of racist remarks

And in a strange development – a report began circulating Thursday morning that an anonymous family eating at the Whataburger, at 2:35 a.m., claimed to have witnessed the three teens making racist remarks before the incident. Several outlets which carried copies of the report have since removed the quotes after the claims didn’t hold water. The following editor’s note now accompanies this CBS affiliate KENS5 version of the article, for example: 

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story included quotes from the alleged witness. Those have been removed from this copy due to concerns about the legitimacy of the statements. –KENS5

Updated at 7:59 p.m.: A version of this article included quotations from a man who said he saw teenagers at a San Antonio restaurant before a hat was stolen. KENS-TV, which first reported the man’s words, has withdrawn the specific comments “due to concerns about the legitimacy of the statements.” –Dallasnews.com

Can the reporter who wrote this explain to me how an anonymous source who has always been anonymous has been getting death threats for his testimony of what happened if he’s never been identified? pic.twitter.com/PRrfz6DimJ

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) July 5, 2018

 The young man who shot the viral video hit back at the article – claiming this “never happened.” 

an article was released saying someone who was in the restaurant (even tho the only ones in the restaurant was my group and the guy who confronted us’s group.) said that we had provoked the man with racial slurs and much worse things, which never happened.

— Brax (@brxpug) July 5, 2018

cant wait to get the security footage

— Brax (@brxpug) July 5, 2018 

On Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said “I would love to send this teenager a signed @realDonaldTrump hat and stand with him in #SanAntonio … Don’t let a few left bullies stop you from showing your #MAGA!”

I would love to send this teenager a signed @realDonaldTrump hat and stand with him in #SanAntonio. There are hundreds of thousands that will stand with you there. Don’t let a few left bullies stop you from showing your #MAGA! @FoxNewshttps://t.co/nTC3HcnfaE

— Brad Parscale (@parscale) July 5, 2018

As we noted on Thursday, the attack comes amid escalating tensions over President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy of enforcing existing immigration laws, which has resulted in several members of the Trump administration suffering harassment in public and at their homes – most notably Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was ejected from the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, VA after the owner’s gay employees became uncomfortable in Sanders’s presence. 

In response to the spate of public harassment last month, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (CA) called for Democrats to form into mobs and physically confront members of the Trump administration if they see them out in public. 

“If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere,” said Waters. 

The next weekend, a massive skirmish broke out in Portland between Trump supporting “Proud Boys” and members of Antifa – who showed up to protest a conservative rally attended by the Proud Boys and the right-wing “Patriot Prayer” Group. At one point, a Proudboy known as Rufio (seen at 1:00 in the video below) knocks out an Antifa member cold. 

Where is this headed?