Woman Who Attacked Man Wearing MAGA Hat Faces Deportation

A Brazilian woman was charged with assaulting a man wearing a Make America Great Again hat inside a restaurant in Massachusetts. She was charged with disorderly conduct, assault and battery after she admitted to attacking the man who supported U.S. President Donald Trump.

Rosiane Santos, a 41-year-old, from Cape Town, Brazil, told the police that she was upset because the man was wearing a MAGA hat inside a Mexican restaurant. She was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In a video that went viral across social media, Santos can be seen yelling at 23-year-old Bryton Turner. A bartender at the restaurant, Geo Macarao, said Turner did nothing to provoke the attack. He said the man just walked in and ordered food when Santos began ranting at him. Turner had recorded the video of the confrontation.

Police were alerted and when they arrived at the restaurant, Santos told them that Turner should not be allowed to eat in a Mexican restaurant. Santos’ husband Emmanuel alleged that Turner provoked the confrontation before he began recording. “You wore that hat going to a Mexican restaurant, I think you were trying to provoke some people,” Emmanuel said. He further claimed that Turner started shooting the video after he said the things that instigated the attack.

The video shows Santos knocking his hat off his head before abusing him verbally. Talking about the incident, Santos said, she had been provoked. “I had a little bit to drink maybe but that‘s the reason that I couldn’t walk away but being discriminated for so many times in my life, I just had to stand up for myself. He’s not a victim. I am the victim. I have been bullied, okay?” she said.

Turner said he was trying to eat a quiet meal when Santos grabbed his hat and knocked it off. “It’s just a hat at the end of the day. I don’t understand why people can’t just express themselves anymore, everybody has to get mad,” he said.

Falmouth Police escorted Santos out of the restaurant but not before she tried to take another swipe at Turner. Tuesday, officials from ICE took Santos into custody but she was released and has been ordered to appear before an immigration judge.

When the ICE was involved in the case, it was revealed that Santos was an illegal immigrant who is married to an American citizen. She overstayed her tourist visa in 1994. John Mohan, spokesman for ICE said, “Deportation officers with ICE’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested Rosiane Santos, an unlawfully present citizen of Brazil, today near Falmouth, Massachusetts.”

He said she was facing local charges for assault and other offenses. She was in ICE custody and they have entered her into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts.

Meanwhile, her husband believes that the ICE would not have been involved had it not been for the video. Her lawyer informed media that Santos’ green card application is pending despite being married to a U.S. citizen. ICE agents have deported more than 256,000 people in 2018.