Update 7/3/2018
Now-graduated University of California, Riverside student Edith Macias faced a misdemeanor grand theft charge for the September 2017 incident in which she stole fellow student Matthew Vitale’s MAGA hat, reported The College Fix. She will not, however, go to jail for the crime, so long as she finishes a court-determined program.
“The defendant pled guilty to one count of petty theft and was referred to our standard deferred entry of judgment (DEJ) program, which requires the completion of a class in exchange for a dismissal,” Riverside County District Attorney’s Office spokesman John Hall told The Fix.
Vitale told The College Fix he is satisfied with the outcome of the case. “I’m happy with the agreement that Ms. Macias and her attorney reached with the DA’s office,” he said. “I think it’s fair. I never set out to ruin her life. I simply wanted justice for the theft that happened to me.”
However, Vitale said he did not find her apology letter sincere. “It read like a fifth-grader wrote it, and when I saw her in court she didn’t look changed at all. She looked exactly the same as the day she stole my property,” said Vitale.
Original post:
The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office has filed a misdemeanor count of grand theft against Edith Marcias, a UC Riverside student who declared “f—k your freedom” after stealing student Matthew Vitale’s “Make America Great Again” hat.
“I f—ing hate this country. I hate it, and I’m not leaving,” Ms. Marcias said to school staffers and Mr. Vitale. “I’m staying here because there’s sh—t that needs to be fixed here. … We need to get rid of all y’all. … You’re so lucky we’re in a university.”
“You do not get to take other people’s property that is legally theirs in this country,” he said. “man, f*** your laws,” she replied.
Macias’s supporters started a “Statement of Solidarity with Edith Macias.” they want to see Macias supported and rewarded. Specific demands include that the university supply and fund alternative housing for both Macias and her family, amnesty from both campus and legal charges, mental health accommodations for late school work and free counseling, and public statements by the university against white supremacists and in support of sanctuary campuses.
“Do you have any f***ing conscience? F***ing freedom of speech is genocide, homeboy.”
“I swear to God I could burn this sh*t. I swear to God I could burn this sh*t.”
“F*** your f***ing freedom of speech, boy. F***it. F*** it because your freedom of speech is literally killing a lot of people out there. That’s what it is, because you’re out there wearing hats like these that promote laws and legislation that literally kill and murder in the masses people of color.”
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“The unfortunate incident that was recorded and shared on social media does not conform to UCR’s Principles of Community,” Director of News and Information JD Warren told the media. “Federal privacy laws prevent the university from commenting on student conduct matters but UC Riverside stands by its deep commitment to freedom of expression, civil discourse, and respectful interactions within our community.”
A Trump-supporting student at the University of California, Riverside had his MAGA hat stolen by a peer who demanded that administrators refuse to allow him to continue to wear it.
A video shows an enraged female student taking the hat to the school’s Student Life Department as Matthew Vitale fruitlessly attempts to explain to the young woman that the hat is his property.
“Your f***ing freedom of speech is genocide, homeboy.”
“So this guy thought it would be a good idea to go into a conference wearing this f***ing hat,” the student who stole the hat states. “Look at the kind of sh*t he’s wearing, You know what this represents? This represents genocide—genocide of a bunch of people.”
Vitale then tries to explain that “you do not get to take other people’s property that is legally theirs in this country,” to which the unidentified thief replies, “man, f*** your laws.”
“Do you have any f***ing conscience?” she goes on to ask, questioning why Vitale would dare to wear a MAGA hat on campus and telling him that his “f***ing freedom of speech is genocide, homeboy.”
“I swear to God I could burn this sh*t. I swear to God I could burn this sh*t,” she continues as several staffers look on.
“Are you people not going to do anything? She is stealing my property,” Vitale pleads, though the altercation went on for several more minutes.
“We will need to return his property to him, but we can talk about…” one university employee begins to explain before being abruptly cut off by the student thief.
“How about we talk about not letting him wear this sh*t on campus?” the thief retorts, while Vitale later tells a growing presence of administrators that “the fact that you people haven’t gotten this back for me is sad and wrong.”
“That’s full of sh*t, because you all are just going to, like, mediate this and make it so like we’re all ok here, freedom of speech, whatever. How about we think about what’s actually going on in this country?” the thief subsequently responds to requests from administrators to “calm down.”
The altercation continued for several minutes until the hat was relinquished to an administrator who then returned it to Vitale, though not before his fellow student got in the last word.
“F*** your f***ing freedom of speech, boy. F***it. F*** it because your freedom of speech is literally killing a lot of people out there. That’s what it is, because you’re out there wearing hats like these that promote laws and legislations that literally kill and murder in the masses people of color,” she stated, before the two eventually walked off with separate mediators.