Senator Marco Rubio posted this story on his Twitter account today. A young canvasser in Hialeah, Florida who was wearing a Rubio t-shirt and a DeSantis ball cap got beat up, allegedly by a group of men. They allegedly told him Republicans weren’t allowed in their neighborhood.

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

The Miami Herald reported on the story but doesn’t have much to add to it.

A canvasser wearing a Marco Rubio T-shirt and a Gov. Ron DeSantis hat was “brutally attacked” in Hialeah Sunday night, according to U.S. Senator Marco Rubio.

The senator alleged on social media that four attackers — whom he described as “animals” — told the canvasser that “Republicans weren’t allowed in their neighborhood.”

Details remain scarce, but Hialeah Mayor Esteban “Steve” Bovo said in an interview that the city’s police chief told him Monday that the department had made an arrest in the incident…

During a Monday rally at the John F. Kennedy Library in Hialeah to mark the start of early voting in South Florida, Rubio told a crowd about the alleged incident, but stressed that not all the details were known.

Obviously if even Rubio says the details aren’t know we need to probably hold off on taking any of these claims as definitive. Still, the photos show that at least part of the story is true. He was wearing a Rubio t-shirt and he did get beat up to the point that he was taken away in an ambulance.

Despite a lack of details, Charlie Crist has denounced the violence.

There’s no place for violence in politics.

Senator Rubio, your canvasser is in our prayers and we look forward to those responsible being brought to justice.

— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) October 24, 2022

Ted Cruz also weighed in.

Absolutely horrific. Violence has NO PLACE in politics.

Heidi and I are praying for his swift recovery. https://t.co/to3sNfaBPn

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 24, 2022

But this Jezebel editor thinks the story doesn’t add up.

It’s also very interesting that he went straight to Rubio with this story and the photos, and that Rubio pushed it out with the dehumanizing “animals” language before there’s even a whiff of a local news report on the incident

— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) October 24, 2022

Hialeah, Florida does have a Republican mayor (mentioned above) but it’s part of Miami-Dade county which traditionally votes blue, though DeSantis may have a chance to win it this year.

As I was writing this, Local10 News just published a story about the assault and the arrest of the suspect.

According to the police report, the victim was distributing flyers at about 6:30 p.m. at East 60th Street and First Avenue when Javier Lopez attacked him…

Police in the city, a well-known Republican stronghold, said Lopez confronted the canvasser as he walked in front of his house and said “you can’t pass by here, this is my neighborhood.”

The victim had crossed the street to avoid Lopez, the report states.

According to the report, the victim told Lopez that he was campaigning on public property and could be there if he wanted to.

Police said after further arguing, Lopez rushed towards the staffer, grabbing him and slamming him to the ground.

Lopez then started punching the victim in the face, causing his injuries.

So, contrary to the earlier report maybe there was just one attacker. The police report (which you can view at the link) mentions that someone else kicked Lopez in the face after he knocked down the victim but that person ran away and hasn’t been identified.

Also it’s not completely clear what the motive was since Lopez never explicitly mentioned Republicans according to the language in the police report. But given that the victim was wearing a Rubio shirt and a DeSantis cap and handing out literature when Lopez told him he wasn’t allowed on the block, that still seems like a strong possibility. Here’s a mugshot of Javier Lopez. My guess is we’ll hear more about his motive today or tomorrow.