North Korean defector harrassed for wearing MAGA hat in America

Thursday's Editorial   —   Posted on May 9, 2019

A group of Koreans, including two North Korean defectors, were harassed in Washington, D.C., last month for their support of President Donald Trump.

A video surfaced over the weeking which shows the group crossing a street, wearing MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) hats before two men start heckling them. One of the men can be seen pulling the hat off one of the victims’ heads and tossing it up in the air. His friend then stomps on it.

The video was originally posted by a rapper who goes by the name “Bigolow Black.” He tweeted:

“Not Around Here Pimp … Ain’t None Of That Make America Great Again Sh*t.”

The tweet was deleted after PJ Media reported on the incident. However, the video was picked up and re-posted by several users over the past week:

One of the South Koreans in the group wrote that the group was proud of Trump’s policies toward North Korea, and that they wanted to show their appreciation of the president.

“Two of us were North Korean defectors who escaped for freedom. They had to save up money for a long time to come. We thought America is a democracy. But we had no freedom to wear a hat?” He said. “We came here to speak out about human rights abuses. And we had no right to wear a hat? We thank Trump. The sanctions are working. The North Korean regime should be collapsed.”

Wendy Wright, the president of Christian Freedom International, an organization that helps the persecuted sat down with The Daily Caller and read a message from the group (in the video). She also shared the details of their important mission. The Koreans’ message read:

We are familiar with living a life where you cannot express your views, beliefs or values. In North Korea, if you do express opposing views and get caught, torture, execution or concentration camp becomes your fate.

That was and is North Korea and its system. No freedom of expression, continuous fear, man-made starvation, fear of death. The people we are trying to rescue are those who have fled North Korea, and the person you took the hat off and stomped on it, his six-month-old son, six-year-old and nine-year-old daughter and his wife in North Korea were all brutally executed or sent to concentration camp by the brutal North Korean regime.

He does not know all of the things President Trump does, but he is appreciative of the present administration’s stance towards North Korea and its effort for freedom and not compromising with Kim Jong Un in recent Hanoi summit.

While you can express your discomfort towards the MAGA hat, as long as it is done in a peaceful manner, that’s fine with us. But what you did to us was absolute hatred.

We are back in our homeland, but I hope you protect the freedom that was hard-fought, which was not free to your country.

Compiled from two Daily Caller reports from May 7. Reprinted here May 9, 2019 for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from The Daily Caller.