Two women have been indicted on hate crimes after they stole a seven-year-old boy’s Make America Great Again hat outside the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Delaware.
Delaware Police arrested Camryn Amy, 21, and Olivia Winslow, 21, on charges of robbery, conspiracy, endangering the welfare of a child. Amy also received two counts of offensive touching.
The women are accused of committing the crimes “for the purpose of interfering with the victim’s free exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege or immunity protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, or committed said crime because the victim had exercised or enjoyed said right or rights,” according to the indictment.
“Violence in any form is unacceptable, but harming another person – let alone a child – because of the expression of their views betrays the principles on which our country was founded,” Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings, a Democrat, said in a statement.
“Free speech, free assembly, and free expression are sacred, no matter whether we agree with the opinions expressed, and especially when we don’t,” she added.
The incident, which was captured in a now-viral video, happened in Wilmington, Delaware, outside a restaurant just steps away from where Joe Biden made his DNC acceptance speech as the party’s candidate for president.
The footage showed the two women damaging pro-Donald Trump signs and a red Make America Great Again hat outside the venue, as people gathered to show support for the sitting president.
A young boy in the video can be heard saying, "That's somebody else's hat," after Winslow picked it up off the ground.
“Mom, call 911,” the boy said as the two women walked away with the hat.
Later in the video, a man attempted to grab the hat from Amy, who then appears to punch him in the face. She then threw the hat over a fence.
Wilmington police identified Amy and Winslow after the video footage circulated of the incident.
