Donald Trump supporter charged with assaulting transgender protester
A Trump fan has been arrested for pepper-spraying a transgender person at an anti-hate rally.
Morris May, a supporter of the alt-right, has been charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
The 22-year-old was going to the Stand Against Hate rally in New Jersey when he stopped at a sign-making event for the protest, organised in response to the deadly neo-Nazi Charlottesville march.
This was where May got into an argument with trans person Allie Koralik, 34.
Koralik said she was attacked by May, who was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with alt-right symbol Pepe the Frog and the message: “For those about to MAGA (Make America Great Again) we salute you!”
She told the Asbury Park Press: “He was saying, ‘I hate liberals, I hate you people. You’re trying to take away our rights.’
“When I asked him: ‘What rights?’ he had no answer.”
Koralik said her glasses helped to protect her from the worst of the spray.
May admitted to using pepper spray, but said he did it in self-defence.
“I did do that,” he said.
“This person, I don’t know if it was a woman or a man, came up to me and violated my personal space.
“She called me a Nazi and began screaming in my face.”
He added, transphobically: “I told her to backup and I gave her one last warning before I sprayed it on her or it.”
He said he believed left-wing activist were more likely to be violent than their right-wing counterparts.
Heather Heyer, the only person killed during the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, was an anti-Fascist protester.
Nonsensically, May said that since his father is Chinese and his mother is Jewish, he can’t be a Nazi.
May also protested that Pepe the Frog was “not racist,” despite the cartoon being defined as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League.
Christian Fuscarino, the executive director of gay rights group Garden State Equality, told news site NorthJersey.com that he was “disturbed” by the attack.
“I consider Asbury Park to be one of the few safe havens for LGBT people in New Jersey,” he added.
“It’s extremely disturbing that an incident like this took place, but I am confident that love and solidarity and understanding is always stronger than hate.”
Fuscarino said that around 1,000 people attended the Stand Against Hate protest on Monday.
Watch Allie Koralik’s account of what happened:
