Second man charged in attack on Republican canvasser
By WFOR Staff
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MIAMI (WFOR) — A second man has been arrested for reportedly taking part in Sunday’s brutal attack on a Republican canvasser who was passing out political flyers for Senator Marco Rubio and Governor Ron DeSantis in Hialeah.
Jonathan Casanova, 26, has been charged with aggravated battery.
Javier Lopez, 25, is also facing a charge of aggravated in the attack on Christopher Monzon.
During a hearing Tuesday, a judge ruled that Lopez will remain in jail until his next hearing on November 14th.
According to police, Lopez and Casanova approached Monzon who was walking on the sidewalk along E 60th Street. The two men reportedly told him he could not pass them on the sidewalk because he was a Republican. An argument ensued and at one point Lopez reportedly pushed Monzon to the ground and started punching him.
Casanova also kicked Monzon in the head, according to the arrest report. After that, he reportedly went to his car and got two German shepherds, and told them to attack Monzon. Before they could neighborhood residents intervened and separated the three men.
CBS4 first interviewed Monzon of Hialeah in 2017. We were covering a story about changing the names of street signs that honored confederate generals and one-time leader of the KKK.
Monzon was at the rally holding a confederate flag and got into a shouting match with the crowd. Police arrested Monzon and charged him with aggravated assault, inciting a riot, and disorderly conduct.
In a tweet Senator Marco Rubio put out Tuesday, he said, “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 is referring to an article released Tuesday from our news partners at the Miami Herald. They interviewed Lopez’s mother.
His mother says she is a registered Republican and the assault wasn’t about politics despite Rubio’s viral tweet.
She told the Herald, “My son doesn’t know anything about politics. He likes fishing,” she goes on to say, “My son has never voted.”
Police have not confirmed a motive for Sunday’s violent attack.
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