A MAGA supporter who went viral for getting beaten up by a group of of high school students was arrested for allegedly assaulting a teen girl who was part of a protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Texas police have identified 45-year-old Chad Michael Watts of Kyle as the primary aggressor in the violent confrontation with a minor during a student-led anti-ICE protest. Watts now faces two counts of assault causing bodily injury, according to CBS Austin. Both Watts and the girl he allegedly attacked reported minor injuries but declined medical evaluation.
As part of a broader wave of student demonstrations across Texas, teens at Moe and Gene Johnson High School in Buda, Texas, walked out of class to protest the violent actions of federal ICE agents before lining the roadways on February 2 with signs opposing mass deportations, KXAN reports. Things escalated when a MAGA-hat-wearing Republican pulled up to the protest and allegedly got into a verbal altercation with a teen girl before getting beaten up by a group of teenagers after he exited his vehicle and got physical with the student.
The viral footage of the incident shows Watts getting out of his car to grab and push the teen girl, causing her to fall, before other teen protestors swarm him in an apparent effort to defend their fellow student.
“A full-grown adult on a young high school girl is a lot of power to overthrow, and so it took enough people around finally to get him off of her, and ultimately he went back into his truck and took off,” Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra said of the incident, per CBS Austin.
In the video of the explosive incident, you can see other students rushing to the young girl's aid and trying pull the man away from her before the group turns on him. The man desperately tries to hold onto his red MAGA hat during the fight, then runs back to his truck.
According to the Buda Police Department, an argument between a female juvenile and an adult man “escalated into a physical altercation involving multiple people,” the police said in a statement.
While Conservative Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the protests “disruptive walkouts” and blamed the school for “this kind of chaos,” the now viral video inspired most people in the comments to celebrate the actions of the students.
In a big “the kids are going to all right” moment, there are adults congratulating the teens with messages like, “Good job kids! This GenX mom is proud” and “yes GENZ! thank u,” while other people are pointing out that “this is a beautiful karma, simply beautiful.”
Keep scrolling to see the best reactions to the MAGA diehard getting beat up by kids half his age.
