He’s only 17 years old, but is an in-your-face kind of teenager.
He wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the American flag and Trump raising a middle finger (it might’ve looked something like this).
He’d gone to a Harris rally with friends to heckle and antagonize Harris supporters. He was looking for trouble and found it. He was walking away from another altercation when, without warning or any words exchanged, he sucker-punched a 70-year-old woman, who fell the ground and suffered a hip injury (see story here).
Her assailant didn’t get away. Witnesses pointed him out to police and he was arrested. Now he may be branded as a felon for the rest of his life, because under Florida law, committing battery on a person over age 65 is a felony, and the conviction can’t be deferred (read statute here).
His defense lawyer has a couple of possible options for avoiding that consequence: (1) Persuade the state’s attorney to try him as a juvenile, or (2) attempt to plea-bargain the charge down from felony battery to first-degree misdemeanor assault. But the fact this was a random attack on a stranger, and an act of political violence, are aggravating factors that argue against that.
As a felon, he won’t be able to join the military, become a police officer, or get a job requiring a security clearance. He can’t have a gun, and will be denied many jobs. All this for an impetuous act of stupidity. But political violence in all its forms must be discouraged, and whether the consequences ruin this young man’s life is secondary.