Scott Leader, a 38-year-old white man who allegedly assaulted a homeless Hispanic man in Boston, Massachusetts, cited Donald Trump as his justification for violence:
Police said Scott Leader, 38, told them it was OK to assault the man because he was Hispanic and homeless.
“Donald Trump was right, all these illegals need to be deported,” he allegedly told the police.
Leader and his brother, Steve Leader, were arrested yesterday. The attack occurred as the Leader brothers were going home after attending a baseball game at Fenway Park. It’s not known at this time whether the person who was assaulted is an undocumented immigrant or not. Slate magazine described the attack as follows:
…The brothers say the Hispanic man threatened them, but a prosecutor described the attack as “unprovoked” and the man reportedly told police that he was woken from sleep because the two brothers were urinating on his face. He suffered a broken nose and was reportedly struck several times in the head area with a metal pole.
Donald Trump’s absurd crusade against immigration isn’t just racist and un-American. It has now resulted in one documented instance of a Hispanic person being physically assaulted by white racists. What is even worse is that Trump, when notified by the Boston Globe of the Leader brothers’ attack, praised the attackers as “passionate” about his candidacy:
Trump, told of the alleged assault, said “it would be a shame . . . I will say that people who are following me are very passionate. They love this country and they want this country to be great again. They are passionate.”
While Trump is probably never going to be charged with inciting violence, he’s clearly inciting violence against Hispanic people and not strongly condemning hate crimes that his supporters are committing.
The Progressive Midwesterner 