A protest Baby Trump balloon was slashed during President Donald Trump's trip to Alabama to watch a University of Alabama football game.
The over 20-foot-tall balloon was set up in a nearby park, where a man charged it and cut an 8-foot long gash, according to Jim Girvan, whose group "adopts" out the protest balloon, the Associated Press reported.
Hoyt Deau Hutchinson, 32, was arrested and charged with criminal mischief, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, police told the news service. A GoFundMe created Saturday for Hutchinson to help "pay legal fees and restitutions" has so far raised more than $30,000, per The Hill. Another GoFundMe titled "FREE HOYT" raised more than $12,000.
The orange, diaper-clad, cellphone-clutching caricature of the president first rose over London. Several groups now raise money to bring balloon replicas around the United States.
Robert Kennedy, a volunteer "baby sitter" who brought the balloon to Tuscaloosa, said the attack was unusual.
"It is rare to get that kind of anger," Kennedy told the AP.
The president himself got a warm welcome at the Alabama-Louisiana State game Saturday, which he attended with several Alabama lawmakers.
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