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A conservative influencer has filed a lawsuit against a woman accused of punching her in the face during a street interview in New York City, FOX News reports.
Savannah Craven Antao, who hosts the YouTube channel Her Patriot Voice, claims she was conducting man on the street interviews for the Live Action organization when she was repeatedly hit by Brianna J. Rivers on April 3, according to a complaint filed in Bronx Supreme Court on November 18. Craven Antao claims she went to the emergency room and received stitches for injuries sustained in the attack, which cost her more than $3,000 in medical bills.
The plaintiff's attorneys at the Thomas More Society accused Rivers of "knowingly, willfully and maliciously continued to mock [Savannah] and her views online in order to further inflict emotional distress."
The lawsuit also accused Rivers of mocking Craven Antao's religious beliefs and profiting off of merchandise that referenced the incident, which included a T-shirt design with the word "BAM!" and an image of a fist striking a face, with Rivers and her cousin using the shirt's sales to raise money for her legal defense. The plaintiff's attorneys say she suffered symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and received hundreds of death threats after the incident went viral.
The lawsuit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for assault, battery and intention of emotional distress after previous charges against Rivers for second-degree assault were dismissed in July when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office failed to turn over discovery on time.
"I have to look over my shoulder and worry about if somebody who supports her actions — there are a lot of people out there that do — that they’re going to try to do something else," Craven Antao said. "Because what the DA Alvin Bragg himself has shown to people, with letting this case be dropped, is that they can go assault somebody and hurt them if they disagree with them and nothing is going to happen."