quote:

“It sounds to me that you would like to give that message to our leaders, to our president,” said Cooper. “He’s coming here tomorrow. What would you say to him?”

“I would say to President Trump that words matter,” said Grady. “And once you speak words, whether good words or words of divisiveness and hatred and division, words matter. And once they’re spoken, they can’t be brought back. And they may land in a place maybe that you may not even understand who is going to receive it or how they’re going to receive it. So you have the responsibility to filter your words with love. You’re the president of all people of the United States.”

“And so I think that if I had an opportunity to share with him, would I just ask him what’s in your heart?” continued Grady. “The scripture says out of the heart flows the issues of life. So what he speaks is in his heart. I watched the interview the other day when he spoke and tried to make some semblance of apology — I didn’t see any passion. I saw him read it from a monitor, but I didn’t see a real man standing up to take advantage of an opportunity to say, I’ve done some things wrong. I said some things. I called people sh*thole countries and called people aliens and that we’re being invaded. But you’ve got to reap what you sow.”

“I would say, Mr. President, you created in the nation an environment where people feel they have a right to act out in violence and in hatred. They feel they’ve been given permission,” said Grady. “And so that’s what I would share with him, that he has created this theme that now permeates the air. You don’t know who’s going to grab it. It’s like the Internet. You don’t know who is going to read it and what their thoughts are. He has a responsibility to own up and then to try to heal this nation. Not just our city but the nation.”

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The attorney for a 39-year-old man charged with assaulting a child who didn't take his hat off for the national anthem says his client, compromised by a traumatic brain injury, believes he was acting on an order from President Donald Trump.

Superior resident Curt Brockway was charged Monday with felony assault on a minor. His defense attorney, Lance Jasper, told the Missoulian Wednesday the president's "rhetoric" contributed to the U.S. Army veteran's disposition when he choke-slammed a 13-year-old, fracturing his skull, at the Mineral County fairgrounds on Aug. 3.

"His commander in chief is telling people that if they kneel, they should be fired, or if they burn a flag, they should be punished," Jasper said. "He certainly didn't understand it was a crime."

A request to the White House for comment was not returned. Mineral County Attorney Ellen Donohue's office said she was unavailable for comment Wednesday afternoon.