Matthew Vitale
Matthew Vitale
Matthew Lawrence Vitale is a blogger and a student at UC Riverside.
In the Media
YouTube video of Matthew Vitale's recording of the confrontation between him and the female student who allegedly stole his hat (originally from Facebook)
On September 28, 2017, Matthew Vitale attended a conference at UC Riverside.
While going to the conference, a female student - identified as Edith Macias- took his hat off his head and walked to the school's Student Life department.
As they walked towards the front desk, he started recording his argument with her.
He commanded that he gave her his hat back, but she refused repeatedly.
The video starts off with Vitale and Macias (identified as 'Chala' in the video, according to the name tag on her shirt) walking outside.
His first words were, "You stole my property, my 'Make America Great Again' hat."
As they walked into the Student Life office, he attempted to take back his hat, but she resisted and he eventually backed away and said that he has the right to wear this hate because of Freedom of Speech. She explained to the Student Life representatives that the red MAGA hat represents genocide and then told him that his 'freedom of speech' is "causing genocide [in the United States].
After she explained why she took his hat, he re-emphasized his point by saying, "This is mine.
This is mine.
You do not get to take other people's property that is legally theirs in this country."
The altercation continued for several minutes, with an administrator trying to calm down the two parties.
The hat was eventually relinquished by the administrator who then returned it to Vitale.
By the end of the video, Edith Macias was about to walk out of Student Life, but was confronted by two police officers.
When he uploaded a video on Facebook. Part of the caption on his video was:
This is the face of the modern left. They are people who think they are better than you, think they know better than you, and think they can make decisions for you. People like this are what universities across America are putting out into this world.
Personal Life
Vitale supports Donald Trump.
He manages a conservative blog called the New American Right, where UCR students write articles that help promote and grow the conservative movement.
It is managed by the UCR's College Republicans, which is the only student organization on campus dedicated to furthering the conservative movement both on and off campus.
According to his viral video, he is half Nicaraguan. [1]