A Clearwater man was found guilty by a jury Wednesday on two counts of simple battery for assaulting U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s (R-FL) campaign manager outside the Clearwater courthouse in Pinellas County.
The guilty verdict follows an assault by Andrew Francis, then 32, on Olivia Carson in November 2024. Carson filed a police report with the Clearwater Police Department after the incident.
According to the arrest affidavit, Francis was charged afterward with simple battery for making “numerous aggressive actions and us[ing] verbal obscenities toward an opposing political group” outside of the courthouse. He then crossed the street, where he “intentionally struck the victim [Carson] with his shoulder, causing the victim to lose her balance.”…