Texas Man Arrested After Throwing ‘Several Punches’ at Elderly Poll Worker Who Told Him to Remove Trump Hat

Mar. 15, 2025

A vote sign in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania.Photo:Michael M. Santiago/Getty

Michael M. Santiago/Getty

A man has been arrested at an early voting site in Texas after reportedly punching an elderly poll worker “several” times when he was asked to remove his political baseball cap.

On Thursday, Oct, 24, at the Johnston Branch Library in Bexar County, a couple entered a polling station and “the man was wearing a hat that supported a political candidate,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar confirmed in a news briefing shared onFacebookon Friday.

The man had taken off the cap to vote, but put it back on before exiting the building, Salazar said.

The report also stated the suspect was “wearing a red ‘MAGA’ [Make America Great Again] or[Donald] ‘Trump’ baseball cap when the incident took place.

An election worker in Phoenix, Arizona.OLIVIER TOURON/AFP via Getty

OLIVIER TOURON/AFP via Getty

In Friday’s briefing, Salazar described the suspect as being a “larger man” in his early 60s, while the victim was “an elderly man, 69 years of age, doing his job,” as an early voting clerk.

Commenting on the elderly man telling the suspect he couldn’t wear his hat inside after he put it back on, Salazar said, “The early voting clerk then informed him that that was unacceptable, and then began to escort the person out,” stating the suspect “appeared to throw an arm back toward the victim.”

“The victim seemed to push off of the suspect. At that point, the suspect then turned and threw several punches right at the face of the victim,” the sheriff told reporters.

Salazar confirmed the suspect had been “booked for injury to an elderly person,” which is a felony charge, stating the elderly victim had “some marks to his face” but nothing too serious.

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Per theNational Conference of State Legislatures, Texas is one of 21 states that prohibits “campaign apparel/buttons/stickers/placards” near polling places.

“Everybody’s going to survive this, but I’m just using this as an opportunity to try to bring down the tone of what’s going out there,” Salazar said of Thursday’s incident during Friday’s briefing.

“Thankfully, there was nothing life-threatening about what occurred, but it was still an ugly incident that I can’t think of anything like this happening during my time here as sheriff, and I certainly hope to never see it again,” he said.

source: people.com