Sacramento woman who slapped MAGA marcher in Orange County convicted of battery

A Sacramento woman who slapped a man at a Southern California “Make America Great Again” rally in support of President Donald Trump in 2017 was convicted in the attack, Orange County District Attorney’s officials said Thursday.

Jessica Aguilar, 23, a counterprotester at the March 2017 rally at Bolsa Chica State Beach in Huntington Beach, was convicted Wednesday of a single count of misdemeanor battery in Orange County Superior Court.

Aguilar was immediately sentenced to serve in a 10-day Caltrans work program and 20 days in jail. If Aguilar completes the program, a judge will drop the jail sentence, DA’s officials said.

The March 2017 rally, billed a “MAGA March” drew about 2,000 people and soon became violent punctuated by a half-hour-long brawl between marchers and counterprotesters who tried to block the march on the state beach, the Orange County Register reported at the time.

Aguilar slapped the man twice. The attack was captured on video, Orange County DA’s officials said in a Thursday statement.

In a statement, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said his office “does not condone random acts of violence.”

“With political dissension on the rise across the country, it is important to remember that (the) right to protest is afforded to everyone; no one has the right to commit an act of violence against someone because they don’t agree with their views.”

Marchers were captured on video attacking two OC Weekly photographers and an intern from the publication, the Register reported at the time.

Three men who protested the march were charged with felonies for allegedly spraying pepper spray at marchers.

How those cases were resolved was not immediately known Thursday.

Aguilar faced a second charge of misdemeanor battery but prosecutors dropped the charge in July 2018, according to City News Service.