MAGA Hat-Wearer Charged With Deadly Conduct After Waving Stun Gun at Protest

A man is facing multiple counts of deadly conduct after brandishing a stun gun at an anti-war protest on Wednesday, Dallas police representatives said.

According to a police statement, 58-year-old Luis Maldonado was arrested in the 1900 block of Main Street, close to Main Street Garden Park, after officers responded to a disturbance around 8:20 p.m. Maldonado pointed a stun gun at protestors, police said, and was taken into custody after being approached by officers.

Police reported no injuries.

The news comes less than two weeks after an older man was assaulted by an individual alleged to have ties to far-right groups at a No Kings Rally in downtown.

Maldonado is facing three counts of deadly conduct and one count of resisting arrest, search or transport, according to Dallas County Jail records, which also show he is being held without bond.

A video posted to Reddit after the incident on Wednesday night appears to show Maldonado wearing a red Make America Great Again hat and sparking the stun gun in the direction of protestors multiple times before being taken into custody.

Jo Hargis, an organizer of the protest and member of the DFW Anti-War Committee, said groups organized the protest in response to President Donald Trump’s Tuesday statement that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran failed to open the Strait of Hormuz by a certain time that evening.

“The event itself, happily, was able to proceed pretty normally,” Hargis said. “We had a very responsive crowd that was there, who were really engaged with the speakers who were speaking. I spoke last, and then we had someone who was doing a call to prayer, because a lot of the folks who are in attendance are Muslim, and they pray five times a day.”

“So the prayer was coming up, a lot of people were starting to pray. And it was during the call to prayer, where this man was singing the call to prayer, that I heard this crackling noise and saw a flash of light.”

The call to prayer, or adhan, can be heard in the video, along with the crackling noise of the stun gun. 

Hargis said they recognized the stun gun “immediately” and noticed Maldonado wearing a MAGA hat. They also said organizers had a dedicated security team at the event, who attempted to separate Maldonado from the crowd.

“My first reaction to it was shock and disgust that someone would attack a group of people asking for an end to violence, and my second thought was how to keep as many people safe as possible,” Hargis said.

The demonstration concluded as normal with food distribution and tables connecting protesters with resources, they added. 

Ryan Ahmadian, an organizer with Shias for Justice, said he didn’t see the incident coming. 

“The fact that somebody came out and felt the need to threaten us with tasers and almost assault people and hurt them with tasers when there’s little kids and elderly in the crowd,” Ahmadian said. “That was a little bit surprising to us.” 

Despite the incident, he said he plans to continue organizing against conflict in Lebanon and Gaza. 

“We were promoting peace, speaking out against war, speaking out against the injustices that are going on all over the world,” Ahmadian said. “And so we don’t feel like there’s any kind of abrasiveness with that kind of messaging. We don’t see why it would make anybody mad, but it obviously does.”