Marco Rubio Claims Campaign Staffer Was Beaten By 4 Men For Being Republican - But The Police Report Says Different!

Police have arrested a 25-year-old man accused of attacking and beating a political canvasser in the city of Hialeah, Florida.

Javier Lopez is accused of attacking a staffer for Republican Senator Marco Rubio (pictured above) on Sunday night in the south Florida town. The employee, who was later identified by Local 10 News as Christopher Monzon, was allegedly beaten by Lopez while walking through his neighborhood to canvas for Rubio’s current re-election campaign.

According to the news outlet, Monzon was distributing pro-Rubio flyers at about 6:30 p.m., with a police report claiming Monzon was walking down a sidewalk in the city when he passed Lopez’s house. The alleged attacker reportedly said to him:

“You can’t pass by here, this is my neighborhood.”

Monzon, police say, told Lopez he was on public property and could do as he wished. Then, he apparently crossed the street to avoid Lopez. But the problems escalated from there, and the two engaged each other further.

At one point, Lopez allegedly rushed towards Monzon, grabbed him, and slammed him to the ground. A police report then states a second unidentified person allegedly kicked the canvasser “on the right side of his face.” That person, cops say, left the scene before they could arrive. They are reportedly still trying to identify him.

After the kick, Lopez allegedly punched the Rubio canvasser multiple times. The strikes caused “severe swelling” on the right side of his face — enough that Monzon’s right eye was “completely shut” from the damage. Lopez’s alleged attack also caused “severe swelling and bleeding” to Monzon’s mouth.

Lopez was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, per Local 10 News. The canvasser was treated by paramedics at the scene. Now, cops say the incident is still under investigation. They have not yet identified the alleged second attacker.

On Monday, Rubio tweeted his canvasser was “brutally attacked by 4 animals who told him Republicans weren’t allowed in their neighborhood.” Rubio also shared photos of Monzon’s injuries — which, be warned, are gruesome (below) — while stating the young man will need “facial reconstructive surgery” after the incident:

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

That’s awful…

And also not entirely true on Rubio’s part? Nowhere in the police report does it state that four men attacked the canvasser. In fact, beyond Lopez, police are still trying to figure out who the second alleged attacker may have been.

Furthermore, it’s not clear the senator’s claim about Monzon supposedly being attacked for being a Republican is correct, either. When asked whether the beating was politically motivated, Sergeant Jose Torres of the Hialeah Police Department told the news outlet there is “no indication that is the case.” Torres stated cops would continue to look into the causes behind the incident and “allow the investigation to reveal” why it occurred.

So Rubio appears to be, at best, jumping to conclusions about the cause of Monzon’s beating. And at worst, he’s using the terrible incident for his personal political leverage.

By the way, Local 10 News also reports Monzon has his own unfortunate history in politics. In 2017, as a 22-year-old, Monzon was arrested during a protest at a city commission meeting in the nearby town of Hollywood, Florida. There, Monzon was allegedly wearing a League of the South shirt and jabbing a Confederate flag at protestors who wanted to change the names of streets in the town that had been named after Civil War-era leaders.

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports the League of the South is a “neo-Confederate hate group.” Monzon was arrested in that 2017 incident and charged with aggravated assault, inciting a riot, and disorderly conduct. Local 10 News reports the Rubio canvasser has a history of support for white nationalism. In the report, the outlet claims Monzon has “spoken publicly about his past support of white nationalism, but said he changed his ways.”

Jeez…

Here is more on the incident and its aftermath (below) — along with the graphic photo of the canvasser’s injuries: