Police made an arrest in connection with a viral video showing a man throwing a drink in a teenager's face at a Texas fast-food restaurant and walking off with his red "Make America Great Again" hat — the iconic symbol from President Donald Trump’s campaign, the San Antonio Express-News said.
Kino Jimenez, 30, was located by robbery task force detectives, police told the paper, and was taken into custody on a warrant for theft of person. His bail has not been set yet, the Express-News said, citing the county magistrate’s office.
Hunter Richard, 16, and his friends were sitting at a Whataburger in San Antonio after midnight Wednesday when a man allegedly ripped the cap off Richard’s head — pulling out some of his hair in the process, the teen told WOAI-TV — and then picked up a drink from the table and threw it in Richard’s face.
Image source: WOAI-TV video screenshot
“You ain’t supportin’ s**t, n*****,” the man is heard saying in cellphone video of the incident.
The grinning man is then seen walking from the restaurant with Richard’s cap, calling the teen a “b***h ass, motherf***er” and informing Richard that his cap “is going right in my f***in’ fireplace, b***h.”
Richard and his two friends, both also 16, told the station the attack was unprovoked.
Here’s a clip of the incident. (Content warning: Profanity and racial slur):
The teen has since said he would like to have a conversation with the man and “come to some sort of agreement or neutral ground,” the Express-News said.
Richard (center) and his friends (Image source: WOAI-TV video screenshot)
"Things happen. People make mistakes — and I can understand in a time like now things happen — but I think a conversation about politics is more productive and better for the entire whole rather than taking my hat," Richard told WOAI-TV.
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted Thursday that he wanted to get Richard a new hat signed by the president:
But WOAI-TV reported that Brad Parscale — Trump’s campaign manager — had already sent messages to one of Richard's friends and offered to get new hats signed by Trump for all three boys.
"The person in that video is just a bully who's been a bully to me, to my brothers, to everyone I've known," the suspect's alleged younger brother told WOAI-TV on the ground's of anonymity for safety reasons.
After Jimenez was identified on social media and users posted an address connected to him, people have been showing up at the address — but Jimenez's brother told the station he hasn't lived there for years.
Kino Jimenez in an undated mug shot from a prior arrest. (Image source: Bexar County Sheriff's Dept. via WOAI-TV)
"We've got strangers coming to our door asking for him," a woman at the home told WOAI. "We feel like we're in danger."
Jimenez's alleged younger brother told the station he doesn't condone what happened to the teens at the Whataburger.
"I just can't justify those actions especially towards minors," he told WOAI. "Regardless if it was provoked or not, if someone comes at you with provocation, you're not supposed to rise up to it because you just prove them right."
Here's a news report on the incident. It aired prior to Jimenez's arrest:
