Police Make Second Arrest in Brutal Beating of Rubio Canvasser; Victim Maintains Attack Was Politically Motivated

Police in South Florida have made a second arrest in connection with a vicious weekend attack on a GOP campaign worker who told authorities he was attacked “because he was a Republican,” according to an arrest report.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio first tweeted about the attack on Monday. He has highlighted the case as an example of anti-Republican media bias, because local and national media have cast doubt on the accusation that the attack was politically motivated. Rubio believes the latest police report clearly backs his assertion that his canvasser was attacked over his Republican politics.

“When a republican volunteer is savagely beaten the traditional media treats the victim as the criminal and the criminal as a nice young man who likes fishing & just made a mistake,” Rubio tweeted, noting reporting from the Miami Herald.

“Local media spent 2 days treating the GOP canvasser who was attacked as a criminal & denying the attack was politically motivated Now a second arrest, a police report & surveillance video shows how biased & irresponsible the narrative they were pushing was”

According to the latest Hialeah Police report, Christopher Monzon, the alleged victim of the attack, was distributing political flyers for Rubio and Florida governor Ron DeSantis in Hialeah early Sunday evening. At about 6:20 p.m., he encountered Javier Lopez, 25, and Jonathan Alexander Casanova, 26, who were blocking the sidewalk, according to the arrest report.

Monzon, 27, told Hialeah police that Casanova told him “he could not pass through because he was a Republican,” and if he continued to walk through the neighborhood that he would sic his two German Shepherds on him and shoot him, according to the report. Monzon stated he was on public property, and walked in the street in order to walk around Lopez and Casanova.

Lopez rushed Monzon and threw him to the ground, according to the report. While Monzon was on the ground, Casanova kicked him in the head and Lopez punched him. Casanova eventually went to his 2021 Mercedes-Benz, released his two dogs, and commanded them “to attack and bite the victim,” the report states. Neighbors eventually broke up the fight.

Surveillance footage obtained by investigators confirmed Monzon’s sequence of events, police reported.

Police arrested Lopez first, but their initial description of the attack differed slightly from Rubio’s. The senator tweeted Monday that the canvasser “was brutally attacked by 4 animals who told him Republicans weren’t allowed in their neighborhood.” Police initially identified only one attacker, Lopez, and did not note Monzon’s claim that the attack was politically motivated. Mainstream media outlets, including the Miami Herald, and New York Magazine, cast doubt on the Rubio’s account, and instead focused on Monzon, who has been affiliated with the Proud Boys and was identified in media reports as a “notorious white supremacist” and a “white supremacist goon.”

Writing for New York Magazine, Jonathan Chait took aim at “conservative organs,” including National Review, for “quickly repeating” Rubio’s account. He noted that the “initial police report noted no political motivation for the attack, which took place in a high-crime neighborhood.” He added the “true significance of this episode” was Monzon’s Proud Boys affiliation and his participation in the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va. Chait noted that while Monzon has claimed he has been on a “path to de-radicalization,” a reporter who attempted to interview Monzon in the hospital this week was blocked by a “contingent of former and current Proud Boys.”

The Miami Herald spoke to Lopez’s mother, a registered Republican, who denied that the fight was about politics. “My son doesn’t know anything about politics. He likes fishing,” she told a reporter on Tuesday. “My son has never voted.”

The paper reported that Lopez was on probation at the time of his arrest, and had previously been involved in at least two other felony cases in Miami-Dade County. In 2017, he was caught driving a stolen car, and in 2018 he was accused of breaking into a restaurant.

On Tuesday, police located Casanova on Miami Beach and arrested him. His arrest report includes Monzon’s claim that he was attacked “because he was a Republican.” It does not include additional information linking the attack to politics. Casanova, who faces a felony aggravated battery charge, declined to speak with investigators.

National Review asked a Hialeah Police spokesman if the department is looking into any other suspects. “This investigation continues to be an open and active investigation,” Sgt. Jose Torres replied in an email.

A photo posted to Rubio’s Twitter account on Monday showed Monzon on a stretcher, wearing a white Rubio t-shirt, with a black eye and blood running down his face. Rubio stated that Monzon suffered internal bleeding, a broken jaw, and will need facial reconstructive surgery.

Vincent Medel, president of the Miami Springs Republican Club and Monzon’s friend, told National Review that Monzon sustained injuries to his legs, back, and head during the attack, and that he remains in “a lot of pain.” Monzon, who is vice president of the Republican club, was discharged from the hospital after the attack, but has since been admitted to a different hospital, Medel said.

Monzon maintains that the attack was politically-motivated, and was not based on some other personal beef, Medel said. “He’s never seen them before,” Medel said of Lopez and Casanova, adding that he has no reason to believe they knew who Monzon was. They may think they’re “tough guys,” he said, “but now they’re going to learn their lesson. These people are stupid.”

Medel denied that Monzon is a white supremacist, describing him instead as a “real gentleman” who has matured. Medel, who lost a city council election last year, has also been accused of having ties to the far-right – he posted live video on Facebook from Washington D.C. before the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and he posted a photo on Facebook of “Proud Boys celebrating Freedom” at a 2020 Miami Springs Republican Club rally. Medel denied any affiliation with the Proud Boys.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include comments from Vincent Medel, the founder and president of the Miami Springs Republican Club and Christopher Monzon’s friend.

More from National Review

• Covid Beach Grim Reaper Announces Run for Florida Attorney General

• Ted Lieu’s Stanford Donations Likely Legal but May Raise Ethical Questions, Campaign Finance Expert Says

• Rubio Supporter Savagely Beaten While Canvassing in Florida