TUCSON – Jonathan Sparks is passionate about his political beliefs, but he said those beliefs were attacked while he was walking around Tucson.

“And oh was it painful. My ankle was just hanging there,” said Sparks.

As Sparks walked downtown, a man attacked him from behind.

“I felt a very strong grasp on my hat. It pulled me back and grabbed a lot of hair,” Sparks said. The assailant jumped onto my ankle from behind and so not knowing my ankle was broken into four pieces, I turned around to grab and take the hat back. My hands latched onto the hat.”

According to Sparks, they both fell to the ground.

“Then I heard the words Hitler, Nazi and Trump. He was shouting things like that,” Sparks said. “He came over the top of me and over and over again, he hit me.”

People nearby ran over and pulled the attacker off of Sparks. They held him down until police arrived. Tucson Police Department said the man was arrested for assault.

“I was making a statement that I personally believe that Donald Trump is a fantastic president of the United States,” Sparks said. “I think that intolerance to his ideology was the flame.”

Sparks said he felt things would be different if he was carried an anti-Trump sign, “a rainbow sign, or I was a black guy which then, I think there would be a sea of reporters here.”

Sparks is now recovering from surgery after spending 20 hours in the hospital. He said he had a lot of time to think about the assault.

“I was attacked with vengeance by an evil man but you know what I learned, you know what God taught me through the whole thing? How wonderful Tucson is,” said Sparks. “There were people who pulled him off, paramedics who stayed with me there is a police officer that protected me.”