Montana Man Charged After Assaulting Teen For Refusing To Take Off Hat During The National Anthem

A Montana man is in custody after allegedly assaulting a boy at a rodeo for not taking his hat off during the national anthem.

The incident took place Saturday at the Mineral County Fair in Superior, Montana. As the national anthem played to start off the rodeo, 39-year-old Curt James Brockway reportedly asked a 13-year-old boy in front of him to take off his hat. When the boy refused, Brockway responded by assaulting the teen and slamming his head to the ground.

After the assault, the boy was taken to a local hospital to be examined. He suffered a head injury and was later airlifted to Sacred Heart Children's Hospital in Spokane, Washington. The teen has since been released from the hospital.

“There was a little boy lying on the ground,” 23-year-old Taylor Hennick told the Missoulian. Hennick witnessed part of the assault after stopping by the fairgrounds entrance for the national anthem. The anthem was interrupted by sudden “pop” she heard.

"He was bleeding out of his ears, seizing on the ground, just not coherent," Hennick said.

According to Mineral County Attorney Ellen Donohue, Brockway said that after the boy was asked to remove his hat, the boy cursed in Brockway's face and refused to take it off. Brockway then slammed him to the ground and started telling people around them that he was right to do so.

Brockway is on a registry for violent offenders because of a conviction in 2011 for assault with a deadly weapon.

Brockway was arrested by local police Saturday following the assault and was formally charged with assault of a minor.

The teen's family has declined to comment.