He Tells Two Men That Confederate Flag Flying in Their Pickup Truck Is Racist. Things Go Downhill From There.

While Phillip Arroyo waited at a traffic light in downtown Orlando, Florida, on Monday evening, he couldn't help noticing a pickup truck next to him displaying a large Confederate flag in the bed.

Image source: WKMG-TV

Arroyo told WKMG-TV the other driver noticed him looking, and the passenger motioned for Arroyo to roll down his window.

"What the (expletive) are you looking at?" Arroyo recalled being asked.

"I told him, 'I don't appreciate your language, and now that you mention it, I don't appreciate your flag either. Personally I think it stands for racism,'" Arroyo recounted to WKMG.

Phillip Arroyo (Image source: WKMG-TV)

Arroyo said he drove away with the two men yelling profanities at him and figured that was the end of it.

No such luck.

While driving on Interstate 4, Arroyo said the same pickup sped by, skidded to a stop in front of him and the two men exited the truck.

"The gentleman who was driving actually punched me through the open window," Arroyo told WKMG, "and I was able to swerve to the right and he hit me on the left shoulder."

He said that even after he rolled up the window, the man was punching the window.

Police at the scene made no arrests since they didn't see what happened and no witnesses have come forward, WKMG reported.

Image source: WKMG-TV

But charges are being filed with the Florida State Attorney's Office for simple battery against the suspect.

Arroyo's attorney James Smith told the station he's concerned with how the case is being handled.

"Perhaps the police department is so concerned about political sensitivities they're taking somewhat of a minimalist approach to this," Smith told WKMG. "I think they need to treat this offense just like they would treat any other offense."

Arroyo told the station he wondered if the men were angered by the Puerto Rican flag displayed on his vehicle.

Image source: WKMG-TV

"It's a wake-up call," Arroyo told WKMG. "There are still some people in our society who haven't learned to disagree without being violently disagreeable, and it's a shame."

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