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DENVER (KDVR) — Boulder police announced Thursday that a man was arrested in connection with an assault using a hockey stick that FOX31 reported on last week, and an arrest affidavit said the victim believes it was politically motivated. 

Police responded to investigate the assault on Oct. 23 at about 7 p.m., when officers were told by the victim, identified in the arrest affidavit as Nathaniel Ellis, that he was hit with a hockey stick across the back of his head. The affidavit said that the officer collected the blade of a wooden hockey stick from the ground.

Ellis told the officer that he was the secretary for the University of Colorado’s branch of Turning Point USA, which had just met in the University of Colorado Boulder’s Ekekly building. The affidavit reported that Ellis showed the officer a website detailing allegations of Ellis being a Nazi and white supremacist. On the website is also a video that appears to show Ellis saying that he is “actually racist.”

On the website were flyers that could be printed, accusing Ellis of being a Nazi activist. The flyers were found outside the Ekekly building, according to the affidavit. The document also said that Ellis told the officer he felt that he was assaulted because of his affiliation with Turning Point USA.

Turning Point USA garnered national media attention earlier this year when conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, eventually leading to an arrest, but also sparking calls for those who made critical comments against Kirk to face serious consequences, like losing their jobs.

The affidavit said that Ellis described riding his bike from the Ekekly building toward his residence when a suspect on rollerblades came from behind and hit him across the back of the head with a hockey stick. He said the suspect said an expletive and called him a fascist.

“The blow did not leave visible marks and Nathaniel described himself as uninjured afterwards,” the affidavit stated. Ellis told the officer that he felt pain, but that he thought the hockey stick breaking helped disperse the impact.

Ellis then shared a cellphone video he took of the suspect while chasing him after the assault. The suspect was dressed in all black and had a black balaclava over his head, and was on “distinct three wheeled rollerblades.”

The affidavit said that Ellis described the suspect rollerblading past him while hitting him with the hockey stick, which broke, then turning around to come back toward him.

Ellis told the officer that this caused him to get off his bike and remove his backpack to be prepared to defend himself.

“The suspect bladed past Nathaniel who gave chase for approximately 1/4 of mile while recording the associated cell phone video,” the arrest affidavit said.

Video footage from around the Ekekly building showed a suspect wearing roller blades, holding a hockey stick and wearing a blue t-shirt over a long-sleeved shirt. The suspect reportedly circled the building while the Turning Point USA chapter meeting was underway, and the suspect followed Ellis after the meeting, and then the assault occurred.

Police released images of the suspect with a brief press release and received a tip from a caller who identified the suspect as Taylor Rose, 36, of Arvada. Police followed Rose to a brewery in Golden after this, and police attempted to look inside his vehicle, but couldn’t due to the dark lighting and window tint.

They then obtained search warrants for Rose, his home and his vehicle and contacted him at his home.

During the search warrant, officers found rollerblades that appeared consistent with those worn by the suspect, a green and orange Gatorade squeeze water bottle that appeared consistent with one the suspect was carrying, and a black balaclava that appeared similar to that the suspect had been wearing. The officers also collected a pair of black jeans that appear similar to what the suspect had been wearing.

The affidavit notes that police also saw another individual rollerblading in the area of the Ekekly building, who appeared to be posting the flyers of Ellis. That man was contacted after a press release on Thursday and was reported to not be a suspect and was cooperating with detectives.

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Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.