Two Pullman men accused of assaulting WSU student for wearing Trump hat fired from university positions

A late-night brawl sparked when police say a man attacked a student who was wearing a Donald Trump hat has left the two Pullman defendants without work at Washington State University. The altercation has drawn national media attention.

Patrick M. Mahoney, a 34-year-old graduate student, was “relieved of all teaching responsibilities,” and Gerald W. Hoff, a 24-year-old “staff member,” was terminated by the university, according to an email from Phil Weiler, WSU vice president of marketing and communications.

“While WSU remains committed to the freedom of speech and expression for all members of our university community, we will not tolerate acts of violence or hate speech,” Weiler wrote in the email.

Weiler wrote that Mahoney is still enrolled as a WSU student. Hoff told police he was a research assistant at WSU.

Weiler said he couldn’t disclose when the university took the actions against Mahoney and Hoff, what classes Mahoney taught or any other information about the alleged assault because of privacy concerns.

Mahoney and Hoff could not be reached by phone for comment.

They were charged with misdemeanor fourth-degree assault stemming from the late-night fight that started with Mahoney ripping 25-year-old Jay Sani’s red “Trump 2024 TAKE AMERICA BACK” hat from his head and tossing it into the road on Feb. 28 outside The Coug, a popular college student bar just off campus, according to surveillance footage and a Pullman Police Department report.

Sani, a junior electrical engineering student, then slung his bag of food toward Mahoney, and the defendants took Sani to the ground, each delivering a punch, according to the footage.

“I was in shock,” Sani told The Spokesman-Review.

Mahoney and Hoff showed up Thursday morning to Whitman County District Court in Pullman to face the charges, but the hearings were continued to May. Hoff’s court date was pushed to May 22, and Mahoney’s to May 29.

Sani, who is also president of the WSU College Republicans and secretary of the WSU chapter of Turning Point USA, said the attack happened when he was walking back to Valhalla Bar and Grill, a block away from The Coug, after he realized the food he ordered from the restaurant was wrong. He said his mother was parked nearby waiting for him.

Mahoney admitted to police he hit Sani in the face, and Hoff said he struck Sani in the leg, according to interviews with the suspects recorded on police body camera footage. The defendants then left the scene on foot.

Sani, wearing a light blue long-sleeved collared shirt with a dark blue vest over it and holding his Trump hat that night, told officers Mahoney slammed his head onto the ground. He also told The Spokesman-Review the defendants punched and kicked him.

“Some people might find it offensive, but it’s 2025, man,” Sani told officers. “It’s just a hat.”

Sani said he did not interact with Mahoney in the moments prior to walking by each other on the sidewalk and Mahoney throwing his hat. Sani casually knew Mahoney, saying he and Mahoney were part of opposing political groups on campus, the police report says.

He pulled up a photo of Mahoney on his phone to identify him to the officers that night, body camera footage shows.

Sani pulled up the sleeve of his shirt to reveal a scrape on his elbow, but an officer noted no injuries to Sani’s head, the footage shows. Sani denied medical treatment at the scene.

He told The Spokesman-Review he lost range of motion in his elbow, but that has since been restored.

Police reported Sani had remnants of food on his pants, and the rest of his food was in the roadway where the alleged assault happened.

Police interviewed Mahoney and Hoff at about midnight on a downtown Pullman sidewalk, according to body cam footage. Mahoney told police he’s seen Sani on campus and knows he’s a “right-wing dude.”

Mahoney and Hoff confirmed Sani’s account that Mahoney grabbed and threw Sani’s Trump hat and told Sani to go get it. Mahoney said Sani then hit him.

“As soon as he attacks me, I’m reacting,” Mahoney said. “I’m grabbing him.”

He said he and Hoff took him to the ground, and Mahoney hit Sani in what he believed was his jaw before walking away. Mahoney said he didn’t want to fight, but Sani did and “got what was coming to him.”

“You wanna wear the hat, hey, there’s gonna be a price to pay,” Mahoney told police in reports.

Mahoney told police at the police department after he was arrested that people wearing that hat want to get a rise out of people.

An officer responded, “Like you?”

“Well, he got a rise out of me,” Mahoney said. “I’ll give him that, but like, I wasn’t trying to fight with him.”

Mahoney wore a gray Adidas sweatshirt with a shirt underneath that said, “MARX WAS RIGHT” on the front and “SOCIALISTAPPEAL.ORG” on the back.

Hoff and Mahoney were arrested after their interviews on Main Street and taken to the police department where they were later released after being fingerprinted, photographed and cited on suspicion of assault.

The incident has garnered national media and social media attention.

Sani said many people, even liberals, condemned the alleged assault, while other people defended Mahoney and Hoff, claiming they don’t believe Sani and that he deserved the attack.

Sani, a 2018 Pullman High School graduate, said the surveillance and body camera footage speak for themselves.

“I just focus on myself now, and I know I’ll be a better person if I continue who I am,” Sani said.

He called WSU’s decisions to relieve Mahoney and Hoff of their university duties “fair.” In the bigger picture, he said he hopes people with differing opinions get along.

“I enjoy talking with people, too, so I hope we can be nicer to each other down the road,” he said. “I’m willing to have a conversation, too, about differences.”

Sani said he plans to continue wearing his Trump hat.