Attack on Rubio Volunteer Gets a Little Strange

An online post from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio about an attack on a man who was canvassing for him over the weekend is now raising eyebrows over both its insinuations and the volunteer who was assaulted. "Last night one of our canvassers wearing my T-shirt and a Desantis hat was brutally attacked by 4 animals who told him Republicans weren't allowed in their neighborhood," Rubio, who's running to keep his seat in the US Senate against Democratic Rep. Val Demings, wrote in a Monday Twitter post, adding that the attack took place in Hialeah, which Local 10 News notes is a "well-known Republican stronghold." The senator wrote that the volunteer ended up with internal bleeding and a broken jaw, and that he'd need a reconstructive procedure for his face.

But an incident report on the arrest of 22-year-old Javier Jesus Lopez since obtained by the Daily Beast from the Hialeah Police Department makes no mention of any political motive in the Sunday evening attack, including any reference to Republicans, nor does it say anything about three other attackers. Per the report, the victim of the attack said he was "walking around the neighborhood handing out fliers" when Lopez refused to let him pass by on the sidewalk. "You can't pass by here, this is my neighborhood," Lopez allegedly said to the canvasser, before lunging toward him, slamming him to the ground, and proceeding to pummel him in the face. The report notes the victim tried to avoid Lopez and head toward the street before he was attacked. The only mention of any other person who may have been involved cites someone who intervened to attack Lopez, not the victim.

Police arrested Lopez, who was hit with a felony charge of aggravated assault, and they say an investigation is ongoing. But that's not the only part of the case that's caught people's attention: Turns out the victim has been identified as Christopher Monzon, a 20-something who's been accused of being a neo-Nazi affiliated with the League of the South, categorized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a racist extremist group. Monzon was also a participant in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., and was arrested that same year in Florida's Hollywood for jabbing at protesters with a Confederate flag. He was said to have been counterprotesting those who wanted streets named for Confederate generals to be renamed. (More Marco Rubio stories.)