White nationalist groups are promoting and potentially organizing a fundraiser to cover the hospital bills for a man assaulted while he canvassed for Florida Republicans.
Last week, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) claimed that a man canvassing for his campaign was attacked over his political beliefs. One of the alleged assailant’s mothers, herself a registered Republican, later said that the fight had nothing to do with politics. The victim, Christopher Monzon, also initially didn’t tell police that the attack was politically motivated. In a subsequent interview with police, he claimed it was.
Monzon is a South Florida Republican who attended the Unite the Right rally and spent years as a member of the white supremacist, pro-Confederacy League of the South. Monzon’s extremist activities, which includes protesting removing Confederate monuments on many occasions, earned him the moniker the “Cuban Confederate.”
Monzon claims he abandoned extremism years ago and says he never supported white nationalism. Last year, the Daily Dot reported that his online history cast doubts on the extent to which he’d actually reformed.
Developments in the wake of his assault have raised further questions about whether Monzon genuinely extricated himself from extremism.
The Miami Herald reports that he spoke at a rally the far-right Proud Boys organized for him on Saturday.
White nationalist groups are now promoting a fundraiser on his behalf. The fundraiser is on GiveSendGo, the GoFundMe alternative popular with extremists. It may also be organized by a member of an extremist group and have attracted donations from other extremists.
Multiple Confederate and white nationalist groups have posted links to the fundraiser on Telegram.
League of the South posted the fundraiser on Telegram on Monday. The white nationalist group’s website includes a link to their channel.
Identity Dixie channel pinned a post linking to the fundraiser for Monzon. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reports that Identity Dixie was instrumental in organizing the deadly Unite the Right rally and the man who secured the permit for it joined the group at one point.
“Members frequently use racist, bigoted and homophobic language to denigrate anyone who is not a white male Christian Southerner,” the SPLC noted.
Identity Dixie is also openly racist online.
The Dixie Discussions channel has also shared the fundraiser, as has the Southern Nationalism channel.
On Tuesday, Dixie Discussions claimed that one of them spoke with Monzon last night. It alleged without evidence that the attack on him was “pre-planned.” The post also referenced “Monzon’s secessionist beliefs.” Many pro-Confederacy groups still advocate for seceding from the United States.
According to Twitter user @ShermanMarching, the man who is organizing the fundraiser is a member of both League of the South and Identity Dixie. The fundraiser says that the organizer is James O’Brien.
In 2018, the SPLC reported that a man named James “Jim” O’Brien is a Florida resident who belonged to the League of the South. It previously reported that O’Brien attended Unite the Right.
Multiple people who donated to the fundraiser also have names that match those of individuals who’ve previously been reported to have close ties to far-right extremism.
Monzon has consistently insisted that he’s left extremism behind. The extremists appear to have not gotten that memo.
