A guy who was assaulted while campaigning for Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio has been identified as a local neo-Nazi who participated in the 2017 Unite the Right demonstration in Charlottesville.
On Sunday at approximately 7:00 p.m., a volunteer for Marco Rubio’s election campaign was violently assaulted while wearing a hat of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Rubio came out swinging in support of the volunteer on Monday, sharing photographs of the man in a hospital bed and tweeting that he was battered by individuals who claimed Republicans ‘weren’t allowed’ in the Hialeah, Florida region.
The victim was first unidentified, but Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo eventually identified him to CBS News as Christopher Monzon, age 27.
The Daily Beast reports that Monzon attended the 2017 Unite the Right gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white nationalists led a torchlight march that resulted in the murder of a counter-protester.
Shortly after the attack on Sunday, 22-year-old Javier Jesus Lopez was apprehended and charged with aggravated battery in relation to the event.
Rubio posted on Twitter that a canvasser wearing his T-shirt and a Desantis hat was severely mauled by four animals who warned him Republicans were not welcome in their neighborhood.
Internal bleeding and a shattered jaw necessitate facial reconstructive surgery.
Police say the victim was followed after being informed he couldn’t distribute flyers in the area, and after crossing East 60th Street, he was assaulted multiple times in the head and face.
However, the police report supplied to DailyMail.com made no mention of the political enmity stated by Rubio in his tweet.
According to Hialea Police Sergeant Jose Torres, Lopez warned the 27-year-old volunteer that he was not allowed to stroll on the sidewalk and distribute flyers in his area.
“In order to avoid the encounter, the victim crossed the street, where he was again confronted by Mr. Lopez,” adds Torres’ statement.
During the verbal altercation, Mr. Lopez repeatedly punched the victim in the face and head, causing injuries.
According to The Daily Beast, a third man intervened and kicked Lopez to prevent the attack, but fled before police arrived.
Lopez allegedly punched the Rubio volunteer many times with clinched fists, resulting in serious swelling on the right side of his face and the full closure of his right eye. The volunteer’s mouth was severely swollen and bleeding due to Lopez’s repeated blows.
The Daily Beast later uncovered that the volunteer, Monzon, was a former member of the League of the South (LOS), a hate group classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center, but he claimed to have resigned last year.
While it is unclear how a Cuban American came to identify as a white supremacist and’southern nationalist,’ it seems likely that Monzon received encouragement from his parents, who have participated in League of the South demonstrations while carrying Confederate battle flags (CBFs) and LOS signs, the SPLC wrote of Monzon in 2017.
Monzon, who formerly rallied for the renaming of streets named after Confederate generals, was also jailed for attempting to use a Confederate flag to assault demonstrators in Hollywood, Florida.
Monzon told Local 10 news at the time, “The current events, like the violence produced by these communist guys who aim to silence us via violence and coercion, have kept them away, but they will not scare me.”
In 2021, Monzon also ran for Hialeah City Council. However, he earned only 3.7% of the vote in the primary.
Rubio’s campaign addressed a request for additional information about the canvasser to the state Republican Party.
The incident occurred in the city of Hialeah, which is located in Miami-Dade County.
Although its mayor, Esteban Bovo, is a Republican, the county voted narrowly for Joe Biden in 2020.
Blaise Ingoglia, a state legislator and former leader of the Florida Republican Party, demanded that major Democrats in the state, including gubernatorial candidate Rep. Charlie Crist, condemn the event.
It follows a surge of Republican criticism leveled at the president for his strong campaign trail assaults against the pro-Trump part of the Republican Party.
In a recent Sunday interview on MSNBC, he referred to them as’mega MAGA Republicans,’ and he has referred to them as ‘extremists’ in appearances across the country alongside Democratic midterm candidates.
Last month in Philadelphia, Vice President Joe Biden stated, “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that challenges the fundamental underpinnings of our republic.”
The Republican National Committee quickly accused the president of inciting violence, writing in a statement, “Joe Biden’s vile comments on millions of Americans have sparked attacks on pregnancy clinics, Republican offices, and an assassination attempt on a Supreme Court Justice.”
Growing political tensions have resulted in an increase in online and offline conflicts among lawmakers and average Americans.
This year alone, the Department of Homeland Security has issued seven alerts warning of rising threats against federal employees and other political figures.
Meanwhile, violent speech is becoming the norm in order to energize the voter base.
Donald Trump stated in early October that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell ‘wants to die’ because of his vote to finance the government and avoid a shutdown.
And Democratic Representative Tim Ryan, who is vying for a vacant Ohio Senate seat, stated on MSNBC last month that Americans must ‘fight and confront’ the MAGA Republican movement.
In June of this year, an armed 26-year-old was apprehended near the residence of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The young man said authorities he intended to assassinate a specific justice because he was ‘upset’ with the Roe v. Wade decision to eliminate abortion protections.