HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - Video of an encounter in Hialeah is offering more insight into what led up to the beating of a man who was canvassing for Sen. Marco Rubio in late October.
The victim alleges that the attack was politically motivated, but Monday, an attorney for one of the accused appeared in court and said that was not the case.
“Marco Rubio, look who he’s representing,” said a man in the video.
“He refers to him as Marco Rubio because of the T-shirt. He kept reading Marco Rubio on the T-shirt, and that’s how he referred to him,” said Joe Chambrot, attorney for Jonathan Casanova, a defendant in the case, “but it has nothing to do with politics. It never did.”
He said it was nothing more than a nasty exchange over a blocked sidewalk that escalated into a fight, on Oct. 23.
“This is a couple of guys just fighting in Hialeah, no big deal,” Chambrot said.
It quickly became a big deal, though, because 27-year-old Christopher Monzon happened to have been beaten while he was out campaigning for Rubio. The next day, this…
“I can tell you this, political violence should not be tolerated,” Rubio said at a campaign event.
“I was not only insulted but assaulted,” said Monzon.
Monzon also testified in court Monday. He has maintained all along that the attack was politically motivated, recalling what he claims was said to him.
“‘You’re the problem here. You gotta leave,'” he said in court, recalling what was said to him, “and I said, ‘Why?’ And I will state and affirm that he said, ‘We don’t want you canvassing in our neighborhood.'”
As he left court, the man he is accusing of saying that, offered the following regarding where he stands when it comes to politics: “I’ve never voted. I don’t vote. I just don’t,” said Casanova. “I’ve never voted in my life.”
As a result of the hearing today, one defendant is out on bond, awaiting trial, and bond has been set for a second man in this case who remains in jail for now. Once he posts bond, he will be placed on house arrest.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.