Florida

The way he responded to the man in the ‘MAGA’ hat made cops lock him up

Indian River deputies say Matthias Ajple, 43, went up to a Vero Beach restaurant patron who was wearing a MAGA hat and said, “You should go back to Russia you f****** communist.” Ajple then slapped the brim of the patron’s hat and spit on him.
Indian River deputies say Matthias Ajple, 43, went up to a Vero Beach restaurant patron who was wearing a MAGA hat and said, “You should go back to Russia you f****** communist.” Ajple then slapped the brim of the patron’s hat and spit on him. Indian River County Sheriff's Office

Wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat made one man a target while he was at a restaurant with friends last week, Florida deputies said.

On Friday, Robert Youngblood was out with his friends at Hurricane Grill in Vero Beach, the Indian River Sheriff’s Office said. While at the bar, sporting a MAGA hat, Matthias Ajple went up to Youngblood and said, “You should go back to Russia you f------ communist.”

Ajple, 43, then slapped the brim of Youngblood’s hat and spat on him, deputies said. As Ajple left the restaurant, Youngblood was able to get the tag of his car.

When deputies went to Ajple’s house, he refused to talk to deputies at first. But he later said, “I was trying to protect you guys because I support law enforcement. Trump supporters are communist and racist.

“I don’t even care that I’m going to jail. This is actually exciting, plus I have more time on this Earth than he does anyway. He probably feels so good about himself,” he continued.

Ajple was booked into Indian River County Jail and was released on $500 bail.

Devoun Cetoute
Miami Herald
Miami Herald Cops and Breaking News Reporter Devoun Cetoute covers a plethora of Florida topics, from breaking news to crime patterns. He was on the breaking news team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2022. He’s a graduate of the University of Florida, born and raised in Miami-Dade. Theme parks, movies and cars are on his mind in and out of the office.
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