Politics

Florida boy allegedly pummeled on school bus for wearing Trump 2020 hat

A 14-year-old Florida boy was allegedly pummeled by several students on a school bus for wearing a Trump 2020 hat to school, disturbing video shows.

The boy’s mother on Thursday released a 21-second video of the Nov. 21 attack in Hamilton County, where two girls and three boys are seen relentlessly punching him as other students look on and scream in the background.

The boy, identified as Tyler, was assaulted for previously wearing to school a Trump 2020 hat that he bought “with his own money” at a flea market several weeks earlier, his mother said.

“He was proud to wear it,” she tweeted. “He wore it to school, but due to immediate bullying he put it away & didn’t wear it to school again, sadly the damage was already done & was now a target.”

The teen was then “steadily” bullied on the bus, getting “tripped” and verbally abused before the situation culminated in the beatdown that required a trip to the hospital, his mother claimed.

“The nurse noted there are bruises on his arm that were older along with his new injuries,” the boy’s mother tweeted last month. “He didn’t tell us about the bullying, but they took it to a new level yesterday and we are just now learning what he was going through.”

Attorney Foye Walker, who is representing the boy, said the attack occurred on a Hamilton County school bus and remains under investigation.

“Tyler wore a Trump hat to school two weeks prior to the beating,” Walker wrote The Post in an email. “It started and/or increased a series of bullying that culminated in his assault and batter … His beating appears to be the result of his support for President Trump.”

The attack over Tyler’s political beliefs is simply “not acceptable,” Walker said.

The teen’s mother, meanwhile, said his attackers “tried to beat his head soft” and insisted the incident was racially motivated.

“Plain and simple this was a hate crime and attempted murder according to the state of Florida since it was over three kids that jumped him and these kids are older and larger,” she tweeted after the attack. “Thankfully my son got into the fetal position and held his hands over his head — he’s got defensive wounds.”

In a statement, school officials said the student’s Trump hat had nothing to do with the assault.

“The incident began with a verbal altercation between two students that escalated when additional students became involved,” the statement said.

The fight was an isolated matter totally unrelated to political statements or agendas, superintendent Rex Mitchell said.

“We absolutely do not condone the use of physical force between students,” Mitchell said. “This was an unfortunate incident that we take very seriously as the safety and welfare of the students is always our top priority.”

Five juveniles have been charged with first-degree misdemeanor battery in the incident, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday, while citing “some misinformation” that was shared along with the video.

The attack also did not meet criteria for a hate crime, sheriff’s officials said.