A New York woman who went viral for her unhinged sucker punch during a filmed street interview is now facing consequences for the shocking actions after she was arrested on Thursday.
The New York Police Department arrested Brianna J. Rivers on one count of second-degree assault for taking a swipe at Savannah Craven Antao after the interview escalated to a heated debate about abortion.
Antao said the department’s detectives notified her of the arrest and wrote in a statement on social media: ‘Just got word from detectives Brianna J Rivers was arrested! God is good!
‘Thank you detectives at the 28th precinct NYC! #BlueLivesMatter #JusticeIsServed #ThankYouGod,’ she added.
The shocking interaction occurred on April 3, when Antao was interviewing Rivers for Live Action, an organization focused on spreading pro-life views online.
Live Action said that Antao was physically assaulted while ‘exercising her First Amendment rights by conducting on-the-street interviews in New York City.’
The interaction with Rivers started out positive until the topic of Planned Parenthood came up.
Rivers accused Antao of not understanding the ‘magnitude’ of having a child. Antao then asked Rivers what should be done about children who are forced into foster care.
Brianna J. Rivers (left) attacked Savannah Craven Antao (right) during a street interview in April. Rivers has now been arrested on one count of second-degree assault
Antao posted the aftermath of the attack on her Instagram and called for justice
The interview escalated when the two began discussing abortion rights, and Antao accused Rivers of being okay with killing babies
‘I need to know the percentage of people who take children from foster care and abuse them, and molest them, who makes them like personal slaves,’ Rivers argued in support of abortion rights.
‘So we should just kill them?!’ Antao responded in an effort to link abortion to killing children in foster care.
Antao then accused Rivers of being okay with killing kids in foster care and sexual assault victims, which provoked the violent attack.
Rivers punched Antao in the face with her fist before whacking the interviewer with a phone.
‘Suck my d**k,’ Rivers then taunted before angrily storming off as Antao clutched her face.
Antao posted pictures of herself after the attack with blood on her face and later revealed she needed stitches for her injuries.
The victim told Fox News that the left and ‘abortion supporters’ don’t like differing opinions.
‘The truth is, abortion is violence, and it creates violence,’ she added. ‘And this is what abortion does to people. It hurts women, it hurts families and it hurts babies.’
Rivers posted a statement on her social media account defending herself after the attack went viral
Rivers maintained that she was antagonized by Antao after she attacked her on camera
‘I believe what happened here was we got to the end of the argument, I was repeating back the things that she had stated to me, and maybe she realized it didn’t sound too great,’ she added.
Rivers broke her silence on April 5, posting her side of the story in a statement on social media.
In the statement, she accused Antao of editing the clip to make her look like a ‘child killing monster.’
Rivers added that Antao ‘railroaded’ her and antagonized her, adding, ‘I will not allow my image to be defamed.’
‘Anyone who knows me knows how respectful I am, I don’t even litter, there’s no way you believe I’m punching people for disagreeing with my POV,’ she said.
Rivers did acknowledge that she shouldn’t have turned to violence, but ‘throwing rocks and hiding hands is worse.’
‘Savannah is a professional antagonist not a “reporter” and the truth will be told,’ Rivers concluded.