 [PROVIDENCEJOURNAL] A 27-year-old Fall River man has been arrested, accused of attacking an 82-year-old man who’d been holding a "Trump" sign at a Fall River rotary, according to the Fall River police.
The police say they were called Tuesday after an elderly man was "violently targeted for his political views and violently assaulted."
The 82-year-old man told the police he was standing in a grassy areas off North Main Street and Airport Road when a man stopped his car, got out, and walked toward him, screaming, "Give me the (expletive) sign!," the police said in a news release.
The man, later identified as Aidan Courtright, of 41 Rolling Green Drive, then ripped the sign out of the victim’s hands, tore it in half, and threw it on the ground, the police said.
Courtright then grabbed the victim by his shirt, knocking his hat off, and threw him to the ground, the police said. While the elderly man was on the ground, Courtright kicked him in his ribs and legs before driving away, the police said.
Two independent witnesses corroborated the victim’s account, according to the police.
The victim told the police that he believed that he was attacked because of his political beliefs and the "Trump" hat that he was wearing.
The victim, who had visible bruising on his lower back, was taken to Charlton Memorial Hospital for evaluation, according to the police.
The police contacted Courtright, who later turned himself in.
He was charged with civil-rights violation with injury, assault and battery on person over 60, vandalism of personal property, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Courtright was arraigned Wednesday in District Court, where not guilty please were on his behalf, according to the Herald News in Fall River. He was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.
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