Viral canvassing confrontation
- Conservative canvasser Ryley Niemi posted that two gay men hit him and broke his $2,500 camera while canvassing. - His post accumulated 1,443 likes, 249 reposts, and linked a GoFundMe for support. - The episode became a viral flashpoint on X, drawing wide reply and repost activity (x.com).
A street interview in West Hollywood turned into a viral political brawl after conservative canvasser Ryley Niemi said he was punched and his camera was destroyed on April 16. (wehotimes.com) Niemi’s fundraiser says the confrontation happened during an “incident in West Hollywood,” that more than a dozen emergency responders arrived, and that a Sony A7C II camera was “completely destroyed.” The page was created by Off The Record USA, lists Temecula, California, as the organizer location, and seeks $25,000. (gofundme.com) WeHo Times reported that Niemi approached Anthony Vulin and David Vulin on Santa Monica Boulevard while Anthony Vulin was holding the couple’s baby. The outlet said video of the exchange showed Niemi asking the men about same-sex parenting before David Vulin shoved and then struck him. (wehotimes.com) The same report said Anthony Vulin accused Niemi’s group of falsely identifying themselves as being from CNN when they first approached the couple near Santa Monica Boulevard and San Vicente Boulevard. Anthony Vulin also said Niemi used anti-gay slurs and that bystanders were pushing while he was holding the baby. (wehotimes.com) WeHo Times said David Vulin was later arrested after the couple went to the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station and he acknowledged striking someone. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s West Hollywood Station is the agency that serves the city. (wehotimes.com) (lasd.org) The clip spread first through Niemi’s own social accounts and then through reposts, fundraising links, and aggregation sites. A cached copy of the X post supplied in the prompt was not readable through web access, so the public engagement figures attached to that post could not be independently verified from the platform page itself. (x.com) (gofundme.com) Niemi is not just a one-off poster in this lane. His YouTube channel features campus and street-interview videos on abortion, gender, and Donald Trump, and business listings identify him as the principal of NIMI Canvassing in Temecula. (youtube.com) (bizapedia.com) The fight is now being framed in two sharply different ways in the public record: Niemi’s side says he was assaulted while interviewing strangers, and Anthony Vulin says he and his husband were targeted with false pretenses, anti-gay slurs, and questions about child molestation while carrying their baby. The next factual test is likely to be police or court records, not the viral clips themselves. (gofundme.com) (wehotimes.com)
