Woman with cane, bystander fight with 'First Amendment defenders' at Brentwood post office

LOS ANGELES - A group of self-described "First Amendment defenders" got into a fight with two customers at a Brentwood post office on Tuesday morning, sending a man who jumped in to help to the hospital. The fight was caught on camera.

It happened around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, just as the post office was opening. Josh Paris went to the post office, to check his P.O. Box. As he did, he saw a costumed man with a camera crew walking out. 

Paris broke out his camera, and asked the man in an all-white costume and visor why he was there. The costumed man said he was there for "freedom of expression" and "First Amendment rights." He and his crew are self-proclaimed "First Amendment auditors" with an online group called Impact Media. 

Shortly after Paris' first interaction with the man, chaos broke out.

"It was so surreal and out of the ordinary and shocking to see," Parris said.

It started with an elderly woman swinging her cane at the group, shooing them away. That's when Paris said a bystander named Robert jumped in to help the woman. The video crew then attacked Robert, with one man putting him in a chokehold while another in a fake beard swung at him. Robert was then brought to the ground, while another member of the crew stomped on Robert's head multiple times.

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Paris said he and a few others called 911, and one of the attackers ran away. When LAPD officers got there, the man who ran away came back, with the camera rolling. Officers put him and two other crew members in handcuffs, and paramedics brought Robert to the hospital.

"He was having trouble moving his neck, and he was hyperventilating," said Paris. "Then as the a few minutes went by, his breathing got more labored and I could see he probably needed medical attention, which he finally got."

Many witnesses told FOX 11 they thought the fight might have been part of a Hollywood stunt. Robert spoke with FOX 11's Hailey Winslow later in the day, and he told her that "anybody who thinks that this is a setup can have a look at my medical records."

Robert was released from the hospital later Tuesday, and said he's been in contact with his lawyer and plans to press charges.