Back in early April, a 23-year-old pro-lifer named Savannah Craven was doing man-on-the-street interviews in New York City. A woman named Brianna Rivers seemed excited about appearing on camera but as the conversation continued things got heated with Rivers suggesting at one point that it would be better to abort babies then to have children in foster care.
Rivers at this point went from all smiles to calling Craven "dumb as f***" for suggesting women could choose not to have sex rather than getting pregnant and aborting unwanted babies. You can scroll back and watch the whole thing but here's the critical moments of the interview/assault.
After walking away from the crime scene, Rivers issued an apology but claimed she'd been provoked into the violent attack.
In an April 5 Facebook post, Rivers addressed the incident with Craven Antao, stating that she wanted to “sincerely apologize.” She also claimed that the pro-life advocate is only telling one side of the story.
“I understand hands being put on someone is never the answer, but throwing rocks and hiding hands is worse,” Rivers wrote. “She knows the truth and she needs to release the footage in its entirety. Savannah is a professional antagonist not a ‘reporter’ and the truth will be told.”
About a week later, Rivers was arrested.
Brianna J. Rivers, 30, was arrested Thursday on one count of second-degree assault for her callous beating of activist Savannah Craven Antao during a street interview on the topic of abortion last week, according to the NYPD.
“Just got word from detectives Brianna J Rivers was arrested! God is good!,” Craven Antao wrote in an Instagram post, adding in the caption,”#BlueLivesMatter #JusticeIsServed #ThankYouGod.”
She started a GoFundMe page, supposedly to hire a defense attorney. GoFundMe shut the page down after she had raised about $8,000.
The New York woman who punched a pro-life activist in the face during a street interview raised over $8,000 on GoFundMe to pay for legal fees before the crowdfunding platform took her campaign down for violating its terms of service...
Rivers posted her reaction to the fundraiser’s removal in a Friday Facebook post, accusing Craven Antao of inciting her “Klan” to report her GoFundMe page. She also revealed that she lost her job and claimed that Craven Antao’s “trolls have taken this too far.”
The fact that the entire thing was caught on video should have made this an open and shut case. But in DA Alvin Bragg's New York, nothing is that simple.
Instead of charging Rivers with the felony assault, the case was knocked down to to a misdemeanor. And then, incredibly, the entire case was dismissed without any action. Here's Craven describing how her case was allowed to fall through the cracks.
Outrageous, but a perfect example of why New York City is in so much trouble…
— AG (@AGHamilton29) September 26, 2025
DA Alvin Bragg’s office has apparently dropped all charges related to the assault of pro-life advocate Savannah Craven Antao despite the attack happening on video. pic.twitter.com/Y2we390ChM
Was the case "deliberately sabotaged?" It certainly looks that way. Given DA Bragg's proclivity for dropping charges against leftist provocateur's this decision isn't that surprising. In the case of the takeover of Hamilton Hall, Bragg's office claimed there wasn't enough video evidence and that violators had been wearing masks, making it possible to know who did what. In this case, they had none of those excuses but still managed to have the case dropped. It's almost as if making sure progressives don't get charged was the point all along.
The Thomas More society says they will be filing a civil case.
Thomas More Society attorneys announced they will file a civil suit and seek damages on behalf of veteran pro-life advocate, Savannah Craven Antao, against her assailant, Brianna Rivers, after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office failed to prosecute the felony assault charge...
“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,” said Christopher Ferrara, Senior Counsel at Thomas More Society. “Failing to prosecute these clear-cut charges sets a dangerous standard for how our society responds to violence against those engaging in democratic dialogue.”
You would think that, in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, violent attacks in response to conservative speech would be taken a little more seriously, but that's not the case in New York. If you're a pro-choice progressive, you can still get away with punching a woman in the face on camera and Alvin Bragg will have your back.
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