(LifeSiteNews) — New York’s far-left prosecutor dropped all charges against a violent abortion activist caught on camera assaulting a Live Action employee. However, a national religious liberty law firm said it will pursue justice through a civil lawsuit.
Alvin Bragg, the New York County district attorney, initially reduced the charges against Brianna Rivers to a misdemeanor. Earlier this year, Rivers assaulted Savannah Antao while she was making a video in New York City for Live Action, as LifeSiteNews previously reported.
“You don’t understand the magnitude of having a child,” Rivers told Antao in video footage published by Live Action.
“I’m not the one who admitted they would be okay with killing babies in foster care and killing children that had been abused,” Antao responded.
“That’s not my point,” the woman replied before lunging at Antao and punching her repeatedly in the face, knocking her to the ground.
The woman advanced on Antao, apparently for a second attack, but was blocked by Antao’s husband, Henry Antao, who was working as the cameraman.
“I intervened to protect my wife, and we immediately called 911,” her husband told Live Action. “The police arrived, and we provided them with the assailant’s photo and description. We hope justice will be served soon.”
🚨 SHOCKING ATTACK: Conservative YouTuber Brutally Beaten in NYC for Interviewing About Abortion@SavannahCraven5 was left bloodied and assaulted simply for asking questions. This is the Left’s idea of “tolerance”? pic.twitter.com/t9fxloBi1K
— LifeSiteNews (@LifeSite) April 4, 2025
Despite this clear evidence, and $3,000 in medical bills, Bragg dropped the charges, according to the Thomas More Society.
“In a shocking twist, with no explanation from DA Bragg’s office, Savannah learned that the charge against Rivers was downgraded to a misdemeanor and later, completely dismissed,” the religious liberty legal group announced in a news release.
Senior counsel Christopher Ferrara explained the dangerous precedent being set by Bragg.
“District Attorney Bragg’s shocking refusal to uphold justice only works to undermine confidence in the system, especially when our political climate has become as fraught as it is now,” Ferrara said in the news release. “Failing to prosecute these clear-cut charges sets a dangerous standard for how our society responds to violence against those engaging in democratic dialogue.”
The legal group will be filing a civil lawsuit instead. “We will seek justice for Savannah, including punitive damages, as a lesson to those who think they can respond to pro-life speech with violence,” Ferrara said.
Antao criticized Bragg for letting political violence go unpunished under his watch, saying it “should never be tolerated or given a free pass.”
“When those in power refuse to hold accountable those who respond to free speech with violence, it threatens the very fabric of our civil society,” she said.
Thomas More Society said other law enforcement officials are looking the other way when there is clear violence against pro-lifers.
As reported last month by LifeSiteNews, a man found guilty of assaulting two elderly pro-life activists will never spend a day in jail and instead only received a home detention sentence for one year in addition to three years of probation.
While Bragg looked the other way when it came to assaulting a pro-lifer who was practicing her First Amendment right, he has used his office to go after other cases that fit more with a leftist political agenda.
For example, he prosecuted Donald Trump for not disclosing “hush money payments” allegedly made to a porn “actress” under the novel theory that the money somehow should have been listed as a campaign expense.
Bragg also tried, and failed, to prosecute Marine veteran Daniel Penny, who intervened to stop a violent homeless man named Jordan Neely who was threatening subway passengers. Neely lost consciousness while Penny was restraining him but was reportedly still alive with a faint pulse when police arrived. Neely was declared dead on arrival at a hospital, as LifeSiteNews previously reported.
Bragg is one of a number of left-wing prosecutors backed by political groups tied to leftist billionaire George Soros. He won in 2021 with the help of groups like Color of Change, which received money from Soros for elections.
