Thief of MAGA hat faces criminal charge

Back in September, we posted video of Edith Macias, a left-wing student at the University of California, Riverside, who stole the “Make America Great Again” hat of a fellow student. In an enlightening encounter, the hat thief and her victim exchanged views while college employees tried to adjudicate the dispute.

Macias’ view was that the “f***ing hat” is promoting laws and legislation that are “literally killing people.” Also: “You feel safe cuz you got the cops and politicians on your side. Youre not safe… just saying. We need to make racists scared.”

Now, this dumb thug faces a criminal charge. The College Fix reports that she has been charged with one misdemeanor count of grand theft. The maximum penalty Macias faces, if convicted as currently charged, is one year in the slammer.

According to the declaration in support of an arrest warrant, Macias told the officer who responded to the incident that she swiped the hat because it represents “genocide of a bunch of people.” She stated that she wanted to burn the hat because of what it represents.

Macias should consider formulating a better defense. I suggest temporary insanity.

I don’t favor a year’s jail time for Macias. That seems excessive. But clearly some form of meaningful punishment is in order. As Matthew Vitale, Macias’ victim, says: “People, especially in my generation, need to realize you can’t do things like this because you don’t like what someone is saying or wearing.”

Serious punishment is particularly warranted here because, from all that appears, UC Riverside will not punish Macias. Vitale, who has been following the matter closely, doesn’t believe she has been, or will be, punished. UC Riverside’s mushy statements seem to confirm this suspicion.

The university is under pressure from Macias’ fellow lefty students. They posted a petition demanding that the university pay Macias’ rent, grant her amnesty from legal or disciplinary action, cover her legal fees, condemn ‘white supremacist violence’, and support a ‘sanctuary campus’.

Macias’ supporters appear to be as stupid as she is. Obviously, the university can’t grant Macias amnesty from legal action.

On the other hand, the failure of colleges to discipline students who break the law in the name of leftist politics might lead to intervention by the criminal justice system. Indeed, if Vitale had thought that UC Riverside would handle matters properly, he might not have pressed a criminal charge.

College administrators should consider this dynamic as they contemplate how to respond to the growing crisis generated by campus radicals.

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