It happened in California—and the attack, which police are investigating as a hate crime, appears to have been politically motivated. The victim, Surjit Malhi, is a member of the Sikh community and was putting up campaign signs when he was assaulted. And here's the plot twist: Malhi was putting up campaign signs in support of a Republican candidate at the time of the attack.

Over to you, CBS Sacramento...

Malhi has been active in the Turlock community for years, raising thousands for homeless and fire victims, using trucks from his trucking company to deliver supplies. He’s a strong supporter of the Republican Party. The campaign signs he placed that night were for Congressman Jeff Denham and other members of the Stanislaus County GOP. “I’m American 100 percent, no doubt, so they say, go back to my country? This is my country,” Malhi said. “If you are a real American and you love America, you should not do that. That is not the American way.”

Irving Kristol famously (and fatuously) described a conservative as "a liberal who has been mugged by reality." You'd think our new reality—the racist rhetoric of our racist president and the racist hatred unleashed by our racist president's racist rhetoric—would've figuratively mugged Malhi a long time ago. Certainly before a pair of violent racist assholes, who are without a doubt supporters of Donald Trump, got around to literally mugging him.

The fact that Malhi was still a Republican nineteen months into Trump's first and (PLEASE GOD) only term makes the next plot twist not nearly so shocking:

He says he won’t let the beating get him down and he will continue to place campaign signs and support the GOP.