Two women have been indicted on hate crime charges for allegedly attacking a 7-year-old boy and his mother last month at the Democratic National Convention in Wilmington, Delaware.
Olivia Winslow, 21, and Camryn Amy, 21, were indicted by a New Castle County grand jury on Tuesday on charges of second-degree robbery, second-degree conspiracy, endangering the welfare of a child, third-degree assault, attempted third-degree assault, offensive touching and felony hate crimes.
- The seven charges, three of which are felonies, are punishable by up to 15 years in prison, the Delaware News Journal reported.
The video: Footage that shows two women taking a “Make America Great Again” hat away from the boy, Riley, and hitting his mother, Abbey Wigton, 27, went viral after being shared to social media.
The women — who also ripped up a pro-Trump sign and struck a man who attempted to intervene — allegedly confronted the family on Aug. 20 as they waited to be seated at a restaurant in Wilmington.
- Riley and Wigton were part of a group of Trump supporters who had been protesting outside the venue where Joe Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination.
- Wigton said in a statement the “two Joe Biden supporters” “assaulted” Riley as he was “sobbing and screaming” and threw his hat over a fence “into a dirt filled construction site where we could not retrieve it.”
- “I was punched in the face multiple times by Joe Biden supporters,” she said. “My friend who joined me and attempted to defend us was punched in the face multiple times by the Joe Biden supporters.”
Wilmington police later arrested Winslow and Amy, both from Wilmington, in connection with the incident.
Riley reportedly received a call from the White House along with a package containing a new MAGA hat signed by Trump and other presidential paraphernalia.
Summer strife: A number of pro-Trump minors have apparently been targets of political violence this summer, with the 2020 election looming and unrest in the streets amid racial justice protests and a coronavirus pandemic.
- A woman was accused of assaulting a 12-year-old boy on Aug. 31 as he biked in Boulder, Colorado, with a pro-Trump yard sign.
- A 17-year-old was repeatedly attacked during an Aug. 25 riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which he has said he attended to help protect local businesses; he shot three people, killing two of them, and has been charged with murder.
- Also, an 82-year-old man in Fall River, Massachusetts, was allegedly beaten by a passerby who was triggered by his pro-Trump hat and sign.
Trump and Biden have blamed each other for rising violence in many U.S. cities.
- “Do you really feel safer under Donald Trump?” Biden asked during a speech last week in Pittsburgh.
- Meanwhile, Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham in an interview that aired the same day that Biden’s associates are driving the violent upheaval.
