Rubio Supporter Savagely Beaten While Canvassing in Florida

A man wearing a t-shirt supporting Senator Marco Rubio was brutally attacked in Hialeah, Fla., Sunday night because he was in the neighborhood canvassing on behalf of a Republican, the senator tweeted Monday.

According to Rubio’s tweet, the man suffered internal bleeding as well as a broken jaw and “will need reconstructive surgery.” The unidentified man was also reportedly wearing a hat supportive of Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

Rubio is up for reelection this November. Polling suggests he is a slight favorite.

The local police department confirmed Monday afternoon that an unnamed 27-year-old victim was assaulted while handing out fliers but, according to police, there was only one attacker.

The victim was told by his attacker not to distribute the flyers. When he tried to walk away, the attacker, Javier Lopez, 25, followed him, and began striking him repeatedly in the head and face, Hialeah Sgt. Jose Torres noted to the Miami Herald in an email.

Rubio addressed the attack at a Monday rally held to mark the start of early voting in Florida.

“Sadly, we get the news and we’re still waiting for details. It’s always important to have details. We’re not like these other people that always jump to conclusions, but we know this: Someone wearing a Rubio T-Shirt and a DeSantis hat was walking in a neighborhood not far from here yesterday when four individuals assaulted him, broke his nose, broke his jaw,” Rubio told the crowd.

The comedienne Kathy Griffin responded to Rubio’s tweet by saying: “You have lied too much over the years for us to believe you now.” In 2017, Griffin participated in a photo shoot with a beheaded and bloodied mannequin of Trump.

Since the Supreme Court’s summer ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, conservative people and organizations across the country have been repeatedly targeted for vandalism, harassment, and outright assault.

Despite nearly 50 incidents of vandalism, including firebombings, at pregnancy centers across the country since June, the FBI has not arrested a single perpetrator.

The FBI announced it planned to treat such violence “as acts of domestic violent terrorism” following the spate of attacks and the urgings of over 124 Republican Members of Congress.

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