Police in Martin County, Fla., are investigating after a school bus aide grabbed one of President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hats off the head of a student.
Surveillance video from school bus heading to Hidden Oaks Middle School showed the altercation between the aide and 14-year-old Gunnar Johansson, NBC affiliate WPTV reported Friday.
Johansson told the outlet that students are allowed to wear a hat to school this week if they made a donation to March of Times.
{mosads}He said he decided to wear one of the president’s signature campaign hats to “show my pride in Trump America” but was confronted by an aide on the school bus.
“Boy, if you don’t … that hat off this bus… take it off. Take that hat off… take that hat off…” the bus aide, who has not been identified, is heard saying in the footage obtained by the outlet.
Johansson said he was “really confused” as the bus aide continued to tell him to take the hat off and put it in his backpack.
“She, like, threatened me with a referral and threatened to turn the bus around. I said ‘write me up, I didn’t do anything wrong’, and then she yanked my hat off. It was crazy,” Johansson said.
Martin County Lt. Ryan Grimsdale told WPTV that they were reviewing the video and interviewing the witnesses on the bus amid the investigation.
“The crux of our investigation will be the interaction directly, physically with the child and how that panned out,” Grimsdale said.
Johansson was reportedly the only student who was told he couldn’t wear his hat on the bus. He texted his mother, Jackie Putt, from the bus.
“I immediately went to the school,” Putt told the outlet. “I needed to know what my son just went through and what she did to my son.
Putt said she believes the aide’s action are politically motivated so she filed a police report after learning she would not be able to see the video until after the school district’s investigation closed, according to WPTV.
“The district is aware of the family’s allegations. We’re taking it very seriously. We’re in the process of gathering all the facts right now,” said Frank Frangella, Director of Safety and Security for the Martin County School District.
The “MAGA” hat, a symbol of Trump’s campaign, has sparked controversy since his 2016 election.
An Oklahoma high school student was reportedly charged with assault and battery last week after knowing the MAGA hat off a younger student.