While President Donald Trump continues restoring law and order from the top down, chaos still simmers on college campuses where leftist radicals believe violence is a valid response to free speech. Case in point: a Trump-supporting engineering student at Washington State University was physically assaulted by two men tied to the university—one a staff member, the other a graduate instructor—apparently for nothing more than wearing a red Make America Great Again hat.
Jay Sani, a junior engineering student and proud supporter of President Trump, says he was ambushed and violently attacked on February 28 outside of “The Coug,” a campus bar in Pullman, Washington. His attackers? WSU instructor Patrick Mahoney and school staff member Gerald Hoff. The brutal assault, caught on surveillance video, shows what happens when leftist intolerance meets the First Amendment.
Mahoney, a political science instructor and self-described far-left activist with open ties to the Democratic Socialists of America and pro-Hamas protests, allegedly tore Sani’s MAGA hat off his head, crumpled it, and threw it into the street while taunting him. “Go get it, b***h,” Mahoney sneered, according to Sani. When Sani tossed food in Mahoney’s face in response, Mahoney and Hoff reportedly tackled him, slammed his chest into the pavement, and delivered multiple punches and kicks.
The aftermath? Sani was left with bruises and scrapes, physical evidence of the mob-style beatdown captured on video and confirmed by police bodycam footage released shortly after the incident. Mahoney and Hoff were both arrested and charged with fourth-degree assault after an investigation by the Pullman Police Department.
But what’s worse than the violence is the mindset behind it. In police footage, Mahoney sounds more like a college thug than a faculty member, openly admitting to grabbing Sani’s hat and claiming that Sani “f***ing got what was coming to him.” The audacity of a taxpayer-funded university employee not only physically attacking a student over political views but then smugly bragging about it afterward is proof of just how broken the academic culture has become in deep blue states.
Thanks to President Trump’s renewed emphasis on campus free speech protections and his commitment to law enforcement, this incident has not been swept under the rug. In fact, WSU responded to the growing outcry by terminating Hoff’s employment and removing Mahoney from all teaching responsibilities. But the school’s official statement, while nodding toward free speech, still couldn’t resist lumping in vague warnings against “hate speech,” as if a student wearing a MAGA hat is somehow to blame for being physically assaulted.
This wasn’t some bar brawl. This was a politically motivated ambush. The perpetrators didn’t target Sani because of who he is—they attacked him because of what he believes, and that belief happens to be supporting the president of the United States. If the roles had been reversed, this would be plastered across every national outlet as a hate crime.
Mahoney, for his part, refused to comment when approached by reporters, hiding behind his door like a coward. Hoff hasn’t said anything either—though his now-deleted LinkedIn profile confirmed his role at WSU. The university won’t comment on his current status, but one thing is clear: if not for video evidence and conservative media like Turning Point USA, this would’ve been quietly buried.
Jay Sani put it best in his social media post: “So what if I like someone that you don’t like? We have the First Amendment, and it’s not okay that just because you don’t like that person, I should be attacked for it.”
He’s right. In President Trump’s America, free speech isn’t a privilege for the left—it’s a right for every citizen, and the days of radical activists ruling the campus with intimidation are numbered.
