‘No indication’ of political motive in attack on Rubio canvasser

HIALEAH, Fla. – Police arrested a 22-year-old man accused of attacking a canvasser handing out political flyers on Sunday night in Hialeah.

According to the police report, the sufferer was distributing flyers at about 6:30 p.m. at East sixtieth Street and First Avenue when Javier Lopez attacked him.

The sufferer was campaigning for Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who’s working for reelection towards Democratic Rep. Val Demings, the previous police chief of Orlando.

“Last night one of our canvassers wearing my T-shirt and a (DeSantis) hat was brutally attacked by (four) animals who told him Republicans weren’t allowed in their (Hialeah) neighborhood,” Rubio tweeted late Monday morning. “He suffered internal bleeding, a broken jaw & will need facial reconstructive surgery.”

But a Hialeah police arrest report obtained by Local 10 News makes no point out of any extra attackers or any said political motivation.

(Scroll all the way down to learn the complete report.)

The report mentions an unidentified particular person who seems to have intervened in the attack, however police wrote that that individual attacked Lopez, moderately than the sufferer.

When requested by Local 10 News if police believed the attack was politically motivated, Sgt. Jose Torres, a Hialeah Police Department spokesperson, mentioned the company would “allow the investigation to reveal that,” however, as of Monday afternoon, there was “no indication that is the case.”

Police wouldn’t say in the event that they have been trying to find any extra suspects, merely saying the case remained “under investigation.”

According to the report, police in town, a well known Republican stronghold, mentioned Lopez confronted the canvasser as he walked in entrance of his home and mentioned “you can’t pass by here, this is my neighborhood.”

The sufferer had crossed the road to keep away from Lopez, the report states.

According to the report, the sufferer instructed Lopez that he was campaigning on public property and might be there if he wished to.

Police mentioned after additional arguing, Lopez rushed in the direction of the canvasser, grabbing him and slamming him to the bottom.

Investigators wrote that one other individual, who left the scene earlier than officers arrived, began kicking Lopez in the face.

Police mentioned Lopez then began punching the canvasser a number of instances, inflicting “severe swelling” on the fitting facet of his face, inflicting the sufferer’s proper eye to be “completely shut” from the injury and inflicting “severe swelling and bleeding” from his mouth.

Hialeah Fire Department crews responded to deal with the sufferer, the report states.

Police took Lopez to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on an aggravated battery cost.

While police didn’t determine the sufferer, Local 10 News has discovered that he’s Christopher Monzon.

Monzon has been in the news earlier than.

Back in 2017, the then-22-year-old was arrested at a protest in Hollywood forward of a metropolis fee assembly over whether or not to vary the title of streets honoring Confederate leaders.

Police accused Monzon, a counter-protester who was sporting a shirt that mentioned “League of the South,” of jabbing a flag, containing a Confederate design, at folks.

At the time, he confronted costs of aggravated assault, inciting a riot and disorderly conduct.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which screens home extremism, the League of the South is a “neo-Confederate” hate group.

Monzon, who remained hospitalized, initially agreed to an interview with Local 10 News however modified his thoughts.

He has spoken publicly about his previous assist of white nationalism, however mentioned he modified his methods.

Local 10 News has reached out to the Rubio marketing campaign for remark.

Read the complete arrest report: