ThinkProgress reported on Saturday that a former aide for Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) was part of the angry mob at Wednesday’s Proud Boys demonstration near Miami that required Capitol Police to lock down an event with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

Curbelo condemned the protesters in a Saturday tweet, but did not address the apparent involvement of Kevin Cabrera, his former employee.

During a Sunday debate with Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Curbelo’s Democratic challenger in Florida’s 26th congressional district, the Republican lawmaker claimed Cabrera “was never a senior aide of mine.”

According to Cabrera’s biography on the website for the Southern Strategy Group, where he now works with the Miami Republican chairman who reportedly planned Wednesday’s protest with the Proud Boys, he served as the Field Director for Curbelo’s 2014 campaign and was later appointed to Director of Constituent Services.


Melvin Félix, a campaign spokesperson for Mucarsel-Powell, who was at Wednesday’s event with Pelosi and Donna Shalala (D-FL), addressed Curbelo’s denial in a statement.