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Rep. Maxine Waters is being slammed on social media after a man named Kino Jimenez was accused of assaulting a teenager who had been wearing a MAGA hat at a fast food eatery in Texas. The attack, which was caught on video, came just one week after Waters told a California crowd to stand up for their beliefs and to take action against Trump cabinet members by telling them that they “aren’t welcome” wherever they are seen.
“Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. If you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd, and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere,” Waters said.
On July 4, a video of a man assaulting 16-year-old Hunter Richard started circulating online. The man grabbed the MAGA baseball hat that Richard had been wearing, used a racial slur, and threw a drink in his face before leaving a WhataBurger location. It didn’t take long for people to start blaming Waters for the behavior of this man, whom police have since identified as 30-year-old Kino Jimenez of San Antonio.
Although Waters’ comments did not suggest that people should attack or assault Trump supporters, teenagers, or any other non-political members, many Twitter users feel as though it was her comments in general that may have been behind this act of discrimination.
You can read some of the tweets below.
“@RepMaxineWaters should be removed today for this. This is all her,” wrote one Twitter user in reaction to the video of Jimenez at the fast food establishment.
“She told people to harass and intimidate Republicans who are eating, shopping, and pumping gas, and you can’t understand why your leadership doesn’t think it’s a great idea to sign onto that? You people have lost your damned minds,” added another.
“When the first one happened you were all excited and asked everyone to do the same, (you should be charged with inciting violence against a political party) What will you do with this time? (it is obvious that condoning this behavior is out of your picture),” wrote a third.
Hundreds more comments have been posted since the video of Jimenez went viral.
Waters has not released a statement about the assault, nor has she responded to any of the social media backlash following the July 4 incident. She did, however, post the following on Twitter on Independence Day:
“Happy 4th of July! Peace, justice, and equality for all, and that includes the children who have been separated from their parents. In the name of freedom, we must ensure we reconnect the children and parents who’ve been apart from one another for far too long.”
