WSU staffers accused of assaulting student over Trump hat were fired
Apr 25, 2025, 9:00 AM
Washington State University (WSU) fired two staff members, an instructor and a PhD student, after they allegedly assaulted an engineering student in a Donald Trump hat.
Patrick M. Mahoney, a 34-year-old graduate student and instructor, was “relieved of all teaching responsibilities” following the alleged assault, according to a statement to The Seattle Times. Mahoney admitted to police that he grabbed student Jay Sani’s Trump hat. After Sani appeared to defend himself, police said WSU staff member Gerald Hoff, 24, joined his friend Mahoney in taking Sani down to the ground.
“He essentially grabbed my head, crushed my head on the concrete, that reminded me of some of the posts; all these weapons people would make,” Sani, in an exclusive interview with “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH, explained of Mahoney. “Some of these posts, they would say, ‘Crush the head of the opposition.’ And actually, what they would really say was, ‘Crush the head of the fascist.’ And when he did that, it gave me that flashback of those propaganda posts I would see. And I was like, ‘Oh my god,’ this is serious.”
WSU terminates two staffers over alleged assault
Both Mahoney and Hoff have been charged with misdemeanor fourth-degree assault.
“While WSU remains committed to the freedom of speech and expression for all members of our university community, we will not tolerate acts of violence or hate speech,” Phil Weiler, WSU vice president of marketing and communications, wrote to The Seattle Times.
While Mahoney was relieved of his instructor position, he is still enrolled as a student.
Mahoney told police what happened
An investigating officer with Pullman Police said he contacted Mahoney and asked him what had happened.
Mahoney referred to Sani as “ol’ boy,” according to the officer. The police report stated that Mahoney admitted to grabbing the hat and throwing it in the street, telling the officer, “You know, you’re f**king wearing that hat, you wanted someone to f**king look at it, right?”
“I asked Mahoney what happened tonight. Mahoney said that he saw ‘ol’ boy’ walking around. Mahoney did not name Sani by name but said ‘I’ve seen this guy, f**king, on campus before. I know he’s like f**king Right Wing dude. He’s got a f**king, like, Make America Great Again
hat.’”
Mahoney told police that Sani responded with a “body check” or “grab,” and that’s when he took Sani to the ground, before he “punched Sani and specified that the punch was to Sani’s jaw.”
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