*We previously reported about the Black Los Angeles woman who was viciously attacked by Trump supporters during a MAGA protest last week. A red-bearded man was photographed grabbing her to protect her from the violence. Many media outlets and social media users dubbed him as her savior.
But according to Raquel Natalicchio, the freelance photographer who captured the disturbing images of the attack, the man was indeed part of the rowdy mob.
“I’m walking by and they’re yelling at me because of my color, calling me the N-word calling me the B-word, saying, ‘All lives matter, Black lives doesn’t matter,’” said Berlinda Nibo, who was assaulted by some of the angry attendees, per CBS Los Angeles. “I’m saddened by it. I’m heartbroken by it.”
When she yelled back, the large group of people followed her and physically attacked her. Nibo claims the red-bearded white male seen man bear-hugging her in photos was actually trying to save her… or so she believed.
“He was whispering in my ear going ‘You’re OK, I got you, I’ve got you, don’t do anything. These people are literally trying to kill you’,” she recalled to CBS LA.
“If not for him stepping in at that moment, these people would have literally tried to kill me,” she said.
READ MORE: Black Woman Attacked by Violent MAGA Mob in LA: Wig Ripped OFF, Called N-word / VIDEO
Here is footage of Roy Ball who appears to be WITH a group of suspected white supremacists who were violently assaulting Black ppl at a rally in LA. The narrative is that Ball was allegedly helping assault victim #BerlindaNibo to safety, but this video shows that’s not the case pic.twitter.com/fqOjYfe2yt
— Tariq Nasheed ???????? (@tariqnasheed) January 8, 2021
In a tweet, LAPD said it was investigating the attack, but not the “good Samaritan” in the pictures.
“The individual seen in the images with his arms wrapped around her—per the victim’s statement—was determined to be a Good Samaritan that helped her get away from the hostile crowd, by carrying her to safety,” the department wrote.
However, Natalicchio has a different tale to what really went down, saying the violence started as Nibo walked past a Stop the Steal MAGA rally.
“As she walked through the crowd of unmasked trump supporters, they began to yell, asking her if she had voted for Trump. She said no, flipped them off and kept walking and talking on the phone.”
As reported by TooFab, Natalicchio said that’s when a group of around 20 circled Nibo, screaming at her, pushing her and a woman tore off her wig while calling her a “n***** b****”
“Men holding flag poles began beating her alongside others who were punching her. At one point a trump supporter grabbed her from behind, restricting her ability to defend herself, as she continued to get maced right in the eyes.”
She added: “The police line was right behind me in this photo. Not one officer stepped in. It took two bystanders and myself dragging her out and running over to the police line for safety. No arrests were made.”
Despite Nibo’s interview with CBS last week, Natalicchio is standing by her account about the “savior.” who has been identified as Roy Ball.
Here is additional footage of “Good Samaritan” Roy Ball at the rally in LA telling another Black woman that “minorities are nothing but pieces of sh**”…
Is this your hero? pic.twitter.com/gi1UsIEz0b
— Tariq Nasheed ???????? (@tariqnasheed) January 8, 2021
“Several account witnesses have stated and have photo and video footage of the woman being maced in the eyes while being held by Ball. It is on video that two bystanders jumped into the crowd to pull her out and escorted her to the police line,” she wrote.
“She later stated that she was unable to see who helped her by leading her out of the crowd,” she said.
Several videos of Ball posted on Twitter confirm Natalicchio’s account of his actions that day. In one he joins other Trump supporters in intimidating other women of color.
A GoFundMe set up for Nibo has sinced raised more than $53k. In a new interview with BuzzFeed, Nibo said she thought Ball was trying to help her. She’s now trying to retract her original statement about him “saving her.”
Ball has reportedly been fired from his job at Toyota. The company issued the following statement on Facebook:
The actions in these photos are inconsistent with Toyota’s guiding principle of Respect for People. We do not condone this conduct. While Toyota dealerships are independently owned and operated entities, we can confirm this person is no longer employed by any Toyota dealership.
— Toyota USA (@Toyota) January 7, 2021
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