Washington State U Instructor Who Attacked Student in Trump Hat Gets a Week in Prison
“You wanna wear the hat, hey, there’s gonna be a price to pay.”
UPDATE: Headline updated for clarity. Sorry for the error. -Mike
This incident happened back in April. The instructor is a self-described communist.
The College Fix reports:
Washington State U. teaching asst. gets week in jail for attacking student in Trump hat
A former Washington State University teaching assistant who earlier this year attacked a student for wearing a Trump hat has been sentenced to one week in prison and a year’s probation.
The Spokesman-Review reports that back in February Patrick Mahoney and WSU research assistant Gerald Hoff were charged with fourth-degree assault for their actions against WSU student Jay Sani, head of the university’s College Republicans and secretary of its Turning Point USA chapter.
The fracas began when Mahoney (pictured) ripped off the “Trump 2024 TAKE AMERICA BACK” hat from Sani’s head and “toss[ed] it into the road.”
In response, Sani “slung his bag of food” at Mahoney, whereupon both Mahoney and Hoff took Sani to the ground and “each deliver[ed] a punch.”
Mahoney told police he had seen Sani on WSU’s campus and “knew he was a ‘right-wing dude.’” He added “You wanna wear the hat, hey, there’s gonna be a price to pay.”
Sani told the cops “Some people might find it offensive, but it’s 2025, man. It’s just a hat.”
Washington State ended up terminating Mahoney “of all teaching responsibilities” and firing Hoff. In a statement it said “While WSU remains committed to the freedom of speech and expression for all members of our university community, we will not tolerate acts of violence or hate speech.”
This past week, Mahoney was formally sentenced for his actions. Hoff avoided prison time.
Whitman County District Court Judge John Hart said “The court feels the state’s recommendation is not just reasonable, but perhaps less severe than I may have thought before they made it.”
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Comments
One had a better lawyer or the right characteristics to avoid jail.
The headline says that he received a year in prison but the text of the story states that he received a week in prison (most likely just a week in jail) and a year of probation. I suspect that it is more likely the week in prison (jail) than a year in prison.
Headline says a year in prison, text says a week. Cheaty-cheaty.
Cheaty-cheaty bang-bang?
A year of parole might lead to a year in prison.
Memo for Mahoney: Pack soap on a rope in your jail go-bag.
Rape jokes are not funny. Also, there’s no such thing as a jail go-bag. You can’t bring anything in with you, not even the clothes you stand in.
OMG, a week, not a year!
It would appear from the flag-burning discussion that Commochief agrees with him. He seems to think that burning a flag is not speech, so wearing a hat is also not speech. And he seems to think it’s just fine to assault flag-burners, so why not hat-wearers?
Dude, this is Legal Insurrection – it is populated by right wing craziness
The self-admitted communist who attacked another man for wearing a Trump hat in public will probably not be raped in prison. However, if he is, I doubt there will be many tears shed by readers of this website. Mahoney and Hoff clearly have mental issues. Any ill that befalls Mahoney during his week in the pokey should be construed as self-inflicted. He deserves a year in real prison, Hoff as well. At least this can serve as a cautionary tale for other leftist idiots considering this type of behavior.
Even if burning a flag is not speech it wouldn’t make it right to assault them. Seems like a false dichotomy.
Dude, this is Washington state, populated in many areas by leftist nutbars. This is why:
1. I am armed at all times
2. I avoid WA as a rule.
3. “Never pick a fight with an old man. If he’s too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.”