Vet Beaten After Saying He Was Voting for Trump

A 68-year-old Vietnam veteran was beaten Sunday afternoon at a Jacksonville gas station after telling a clerk of the food store that he was going to vote for Donald Trump, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

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Daniels told News4Jax that he was in line to pay for gas and began talking about the upcoming election. The clerk, whom he knew, asked him who he planned to vote for, and Daniels [who is white] said, “Trump.”

The man behind him [who is black] became irate, using racial slurs and expletives, authorities said. Daniels said the abusive man left the store first, but waited for him outside and picked up where he left off.

“He said, ‘Hey, I need to talk to you.’ I said, ‘Partner, I don’t want to talk to nobody. Look, that stuff is over with. I was just voicing an opinion. So were you,’ and I said, ‘Come on, let me get some gas,'” Daniels said. “He reached over, grabbed me by (the) arm, turned me around and came down with his left hand. (He) knocked me down, and when I hit the ground, he said, ‘What do you think about Trump? Know you white mother (expletive).’ And then he started kicking me.”

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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the attacker was described as a 25- to 35-year-old black man, at least 6 feet tall and weighing 210 to 230 pounds, with long dreadlocks and a beard.

“I hope he goes to jail. I want him to make restitution for all my injuries and the pain I’m going through right now,” Daniels said. “I don’t see why it’s not a hate crime with all the words he was saying. It was all about me being a white man and supporting Trump. If that’s not hate, then I don’t know what is.”

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[Editor’s Note: A video report of this story is available at the original article link below.]