For the nine years they’ve been together, Anthony and David Vulin saw West Hollywood as their safe space.
They had their first date at a Mexican restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard and eventually moved in together at a nearby apartment in the famously inclusive city. Married in 2022, the couple recently welcomed their first child, Ante, into the world.
So when a stranger approached them on a walk with their newborn on April 16, they said they felt perfectly comfortable answering a few questions from someone who claimed to be with CNN. It didn’t take long, they said, to realize something was off.
“Have you ever heard about the statistics coming out that gay men are much more likely to commit child molestation?” asked Ryley Niemi, a 21-year-old content creator who would later post a portion of the interview to Instagram, where he has more than 73,000 followers.
Niemi, a vocal supporter of President Trump and self-described “MAGA influencer,” then described the idea of gay parents having a child as “weird.”
Video of the incident shows the Vulins react angrily. David shoves Niemi. Moments later, the couple and at least one other man confronted him again a few blocks away, according to a video Niemi published to X. In the clip, Niemi questions if the baby is safe with his own parents; David is then seen punching Niemi in the head several times.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies soon arrested David Vulin on suspicion of battery and felony vandalism for breaking one of Niemi’s cameras.
But since footage of the incident has spread online, some have questioned whether the wrong person ended up in handcuffs, alleging it was Niemi who provoked the attack.
West Hollywood Vice Mayor Danny Hang said city officials will probably draft a letter asking Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman not to file charges against David Vulin.
“What happened to him was unjust. These trolls came to our city and disrupted our way of life and they attacked him for clickbait purposes,” said Hang, who personally called Hochman about the case.
A spokesman for Hochman said he could not comment on the case, which has not been presented for charging by the Sheriff’s Department.
David Vulin, 32, said in an interview that he’d been violently attacked in the past by people using similar anti-gay language.
“I realized this person has manipulated us into having a very, very offensive conversation on camera … my head was just reeling. I was overwhelmed with the homophobic rhetoric and the dehumanizing language to incite some type of response from us,” he said. “If they’re going to be saying hateful things, what’s coming next?”
Based in Temecula, Niemi describes himself online as a political activist. His Instagram reels often show him criticizing the LGBTQ+ community. He recently had a friendly chat with Riverside County Sheriff and Republican gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco.
In one clip, he asks people on the street if the American government should “deport” transgender people to Venezuela. In another, he harangues a transgender woman in Santa Monica, calling her “sir.”
During a brief interview earlier this week with The Times, Niemi provided his own summary of the West Hollywood incident.
The streamer noted he didn’t touch the Vulins during the interview or attempt to fight back after the confrontation started to get physical.
The video footage shows Vulin shove Niemi shortly after the streamer claims there are “statistics” showing gay parents are likely to molest their children. Niemi would not answer a question about his source for the purported data, or any other follow-up questions by phone or email.
Published academic research has shown his claims are not supported by facts. A 2021 study by the National Institutes of Health found those who commit child sex abuse are a “heterogeneous population,” meaning there is no one characteristic that would be an indicator someone is likely to be an abuser.
After the shove, the video shows Niemi and his group walk briskly down the stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard that is home to a number of nightclubs and bars. Eventually he finds a security guard and asks, “How fast can you get the cops here?”
Within a minute, the Vulins and another man catch up to the group and shout at them to leave West Hollywood. The video shows Niemi and his associates repeatedly ask the Vulins to “stop following” them.
R.J. Dreiling, an attorney for the Vulins, said his clients were simply “on their way home. They were on autopilot and in shock … they were not looking to get in a second altercation.”
In the video clip Niemi posted, he says he is “concerned” for the safety of the couple’s baby.
David then rushes forward and punches Niemi in the back of the head at least twice, according to the video. Niemi declined to state what, if any, injuries he suffered.
Vulin said the comment about the baby’s “safety” set him off. Anthony was holding their child at the time.
“It just really was an alarming thing to say … it just sent me into a moment of needing to protect myself, to protect my family and to create a space of distance between them and these people,” he said.
The Vulin family went to the Sheriff’s Department’s West Hollywood station while Niemi called 911. Vulin was arrested a short time later. Niemi said a $2,000 camera was also damaged in the attack, which would meet the threshold for a felony vandalism charge under California law.
After the punches were thrown, a third man can be seen on video screaming at Niemi and his associates that they all “deserve to be shot in the f—ing head.” David Vulin said “members of the community” showed up to protect them.
Niemi described the shouting as a “criminal threat.”
L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Shane Chapman said investigators were “aware” of the prior conflict between Vulin and Niemi, but declined to say if that had any impact on the department’s decision to make an arrest.
During a recent City Council meeting, West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman said he would consider sending a letter of support to the district attorney’s office on behalf of the Vulin family after a number of residents raised concerns about the incident. Heilman did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The Vulins said the incident has shattered their illusion of safety in West Hollywood. Both said they received a slew of homophobic messages online and by phone since Niemi posted the video. Anthony, a 47-year-old Realtor who also chairs West Hollywood’s business licensing commission, said he had to hide all his public business listings due to harassment.
A GoFundMe in support of the Vulins has raised more than $180,000 for their legal defense. A similar effort launched by Niemi asking for “support” has collected just $1,840.
“I’m very optimistic we won’t end up in court. But I will say, David and Anthony having to readjust their life, because of what this guy did, is unacceptable,” Dreiling said. “That night, the wrong person ended up in jail.”
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