Dean Black: Republican Party is apparently the only party of law and order
Van rams into GOP voter registration tent; Duval County GOP chairman Dean Black reacts.
The Republican Party chairman for the North Florida county where a man drove his van into a tent staffed by Trump-supporting volunteers said the attack is another example of why people are afraid to exercise their First Amendment right to free expression.
Duval County GOP chairman Dean Black told "The Ingraham Angle" that there was no way the attack was not politically motivated.
"It was a plainly marked event," he said. "There were Trump signs everywhere."
Black alleged that suspect Gregory W. Timm pulled up, began filming with his cellphone and made an "obscene gesture" before accelerating his vehicle toward the activists.
"Our elderly volunteers barely get out of the way — he plows through the location, upending everything, and then he backs up and he videotapes it again. He was proud of his work," he said.
FLORIDA MAN ACCUSED OF DRIVING VAN INTO TRUMP SUPPORTERS' TENT
Reacting to headlines that appeared to downplay the incident, Black remarked that Timm would have to have had a "blinding hatred of chairs, tents and tables" to believe he was not motivated by hatred of Republicans or the president.
Black said Trump supporters continue to live in fear of attacks and aspersions for simply wearing one of the Trump campaign's signature red hats in public.
"[P]eople are scared because of what hat they are going to wear. They are concerned they will get accosted because of the shirt they chose to put on — they are out exercising their First Amendment rights to engage in political speech."
Last summer in New York City, the president's hometown, 42-year-old Jahangir Turan claimed he was walking on Manhattan's Lower East Side when he was punched in the face while wearing a "MAGA" hat.
Turan alleged that several teens swore at him and assaulted him, leaving him with a swollen black eye and a broken cheekbone, according to the New York Post.
“I love President Trump. I think he’s doing a great job,” Turan said at the time. “It’s sad to get beat up for wearing this hat. This is America.”
In the case of Timm, 27, local media reported no injuries in the alleged attack on Florida's First Coast.
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Timm faces two counts of aggravated assault on a victim over the age of 65, one count of criminal mischief and one count of driving while his license is suspended, the newspaper reported Sunday. His bond was set at $507,500.
Fox News' Jack Durschlag contributed to this report.
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