Barrett Dahl of Oklahoma is claiming that the White House’s executive director of American Indian and Alaska Native Education assaulted him last year for wearing a Washington Redskins shirt.
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The shirt was reportedly a Redskins jersey with the phrase “INJUN PLAYER” on the back.
Oklahoma City’s News 9 KWTV reports that Dahl, an autistic student at the University of Oklahoma and proud member of the Choctaw Nation, was visiting Washington, D.C. on a school trip when White House staffer William Mendoza approached him at a Pow Wow.
“He comes to me and calls me the name weetard not retard, weetard. ‘You’re a weetard for not understanding Redskins is offensive,'” Dahl explained. “Where are you from? You’re so stupid and uneducated. You don’t understand Redskins is offensive? And I tell him I’m from Oklahoma as I’m very proud to be and that’s when he spits on me.”
Barrett Dahl (News 9)
The pair was later involved in a tussle that sent both parties tumbling down an escalator, yet both sides offer conflicting explanations.
Dahl claims to have been attacked from behind on the escalator, resulting in multiple surgeries that cost thousands of dollars.
Mendoza gave a statement to News 9 in which he claims Dahl was the aggressor.
Upon exiting the escalator, I ran into Barry again, coming around the corner. I reached out my hand and said, ‘My apologies for offending you.’ He was holding a cup in his hand, at which point, he threw its contents that was the smell of coffee and was hot, but not scalding. He then punched me in the face (right cheek). I tried to grab him but we both fell. [sic]