Florida Man Hit with Additional Charge for Siccing Dogs on Rubio Canvasser
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Florida prosecutors have added an additional charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against Javier Lopez, for siccing two German Shepherds on Christopher Monzon, a Republican canvasser he allegedly assaulted in Hialeah, Fla., last week.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office on Monday filed formal charges against Lopez: aggravated battery with great bodily harm and the additional assault with a deadly weapon charge, which stemmed from Lopez and another attacker’s decision to unleash dogs on Monzon for what he says was the crime of trying to drum up support for Republican candidates in their neighborhood.
Lopez, 25, pleaded not guilty through his attorney, the Miami Herald reported.
Monzon was reportedly wearing a “Rubio for Senate” t-shirt as well as a Ron DeSantis hat when Lopez and Jonathan Casanova told him to leave the area. “You can’t pass by here. This is my neighborhood,” Lopez warned Monzon, according to the account Monzon provided to the police. Monzon told police the attack was motivated by his support for Republican candidates, though Lopez’s mother insists her son is not political.
Monzon was hospitalized with a fractured orbital bone after the attack.
The brutal attack made national headlines when Florida Republican senator Marco Rubio tweeted about the damage Monzon suffered.
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 in #Hialeah #Florida
He suffered internal bleeding, a broken jaw & will need facial reconstructive surgery pic.twitter.com/36QpbySg58
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) October 24, 2022
Since the attack, details have emerged indicating that Monzon was involved in a scuffle in 2017 against activists seeking to rename several streets in Hollywood, Fla., which were named after Confederates including Robert E. Lee, John Bell, and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Monzon was detained by police during the incident while holding a Confederate flag.
As news of Monzon’s past emerged, Rubio held a combative press conference Monday with journalists asking the senator to clarify his stance on the attack. “By the way, I think he’s rejected all those things and that’s what we want people who have those views to do: to change their minds and reject it and walk away from it,” Rubio said of Monzon’s former alleged affiliation with white supremacist groups.
Rubio referenced the Friday attack on Speaker Pelosi’s husband last week to highlight the media’s double standard in dealing with these two cases. We should be focused on these two thugs who attacked him [Monzon] in a felonious attack and that’s what you should be asking me about. That’s what the press should be focused on, not shaming a victim of a crime,” Rubio said.
Rubio is heavily favored to win reelection against Democrat Val Demings in the upcoming midterm elections.
