While the story as written certainly seems to support the sensationalist headline, further research into the facts of the case reveal a different story altogether. 1st, while the plaintiff alleges he was thrown out of the bar for wearing a MAGA hat, the bar denies this altogether, and has produced the man's signed credit card receipt for $186 -- which included a voluntary 20% tip. Even the NY Post acknowledges this in an earlier article in this series of politically biased stories: https://nypost.com/2017/07/31/man-booted-for-trump-hat-paid-like-a-pleased-customer-bar-owner/ 2nd, the article doesn't provide enough contextual information about the lawsuit itself; in fact, the plaintiff specifically filed a discrimination suit against the bar, alleging that his religious rights were violated. Hence the arguments that his non-religious hat (in this instance, political) wasn't covered under the religious discrimination laws his suit was filed under: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/maga-hat-wearing-man-discrimination-suit-bar-tossed-article-1.3954578 3rd, the bar owner asserts that the plaintiff was asked to leave because he was being verbally abusive to staff -- a small detail that is amazingly absent from the vast majority of articles written on this matter. Shouldn't the response from the accused bar owner be included in any balanced journalistic news item? https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/26/us/maga-hat-new-york-bar-lawsuit-trnd/index.html

The headline is built for clicks but doesnt provide the whole story to the judges decision. Luckily, the person who didnt just read the headline would learn that the Trump supporter who was thrown out was the plaintiff and cited 'religious beliefs' as his reasoning for suing. The judge denied that his hat was the symbol of his religion... thats what was ruled on. I don't believe this is a precedent for business owners but I doubt it will be the last we hear of this story.

Although the headline feels clickbaity and politically charged, this ended up being a trustworthy article for me. If this story is true, it's very interesting and perhaps sets the precedent for political discrimination as a right of business owners. Until the Make America Great Again hats, there had not been such a controversial or clearly identifiable clothing item to display one's political beliefs. I'm not surprised that a case like this has not been tried until now. The article is well-written, objective, and straight to the point.