Attack over anthem: Montana boy assaulted for not removing hat during National Anthem
This weekend at a county fair in Superior, Montana, a 13-year-old boy was picked up by his throat and slammed to the ground by a registered violent offender. Reportedly the young teen suffered the assault because he was wearing a hat during the National Anthem. The Montana man who slammed the boy’s head to the ground reportedly did so because he felt the teen was disrespecting the anthem.
Mineral County Sheriff Mike Boone said witnesses identified the suspect as 39-year-old Curt James Brockway. Brockway was apprehended at the fairgrounds, located in the western Montana town of Superior, and charged with assault on a minor – a felony.
A witness on the scene, Taylor Henneck, said the assault took place just as the National Anthem was starting. Henneck said that after hearing a “pop,” she turned and could see the boy in pain and on the ground.
“He was bleeding out of his ears, seizing on the ground, just not coherent,” Henneck told The Missoulian. As startled spectators closed on Brockway, Hennick said he offered a simple defense for his actions.
“He said [the boy] was disrespecting the national anthem so he had every right to do that,” she added.
USA Today reported the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office as saying that the boy had to be airlifted to a hospital in Spokane, Washington. “The child’s parents told KPAX that he continued bleeding from his ear for nearly six hours after the assault. He was treated for temporal skull fractures and later released from the hospital, the station reported.”
The little boy was assaulted at the fairgrounds on Saturday and didn’t leave the hospital until Tuesday – when he was sent home to complete the rest of his recovery.
“It’s just a lot of pain in my head. I don’t remember anything – the rodeo – the helicopter – nothing,” the 13-year-old said in an interview with the station.
Brockway was in court Monday on his sole felony charge of assaulting a minor. Prosecutors were angling for a $100,000 bail bond; but his attorney is trying to get him released without bond, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Brockway has a criminal record. He was convicted of assault with a weapon back in 2010 and had to register as a violent offender. For that violent assault, he was sentenced to a 10-year suspended sentence.
He’s due to be back in court on August 14 to be arraigned for assaulting the 13-year-old boy at the fair for not removing his hat during the National Anthem.
~ Written by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
