CBS Miami reporter Samantha Rivera was in Las Vegas during the Stanley Cup playoffs last week when an aggressive fan attempted to butt into her broadcast, causing her to stiff-arm him out of the shot and she is now getting hate messages for it.

(Video Credit: CBS Miami)

Rivera was covering the Vegas Golden Knights’ Game 2 win over the Florida Panthers when the incident occurred. She posted it on social media and it immediately went viral. Although she was praised for her poise during the altercation, that notoriety has evidently garnered her an “influx of hate messages.”

“I’ve been getting an influx of hate messages/comments these past couple days and to those people, I’d like to ask if maybe now is a good time for you to move out of your mom’s basement?? Stay blessed,” she quipped on Twitter.

ESPN Las Vegas host Willie Ramirez tweeted his full support for the reporter following the incident.

“Just spent 15 minutes catching up with @JSamanthaRivera and to hear that she has been receiving death threats is straight criminal,” he tweeted. “Take what you want out of context, but to (threaten) someone’s life over a tweet that came immediately after an emotional situation is ridiculous.”

‘Nope!’ Female reporter checks unruly hockey fan with big-league stiff armhttps://t.co/8P1CNA1Rn0

— American Wire News (@americanwire_) June 6, 2023

Just spent 15 minutes catching up with @JSamanthaRivera and to hear that she has been receiving death threats is straight criminal.

Take what you want out of context, but to theaten someone’s life over a tweet that came immediately after an emotional situation is ridiculous. https://t.co/5yA5GZR4fk

— WillieGRamireZ (@WillieGRamirez) June 12, 2023

Rivera also snarked on her Instagram Story, “The block button is a beautiful thing too.”

“Panthers lost another rough one tonight but let this serve as a reminder to back the hell off when I’m working and respect that I’m doing my job,” she wrote on social media after the incident. “Excited to get back home to some classy #Panthers fans for game 3!!”

Listen, I don’t give a damn what team you’re rooting for – get the hell out of my face when I’m working and respect that I’m here to do my job.

Excited to get back home to some classy #Panthers fans for game 3!! pic.twitter.com/iWDQl0Rtvv

— Samantha Rivera (@JSamanthaRivera) June 6, 2023

She addressed the issue on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio Sunday.

“It’s honestly been overwhelming,” she responded concerning the video. “I truly did not think that it would receive this kind of response. And it’s interesting too, because I was kind of nervous to post it because I didn’t know how the world was going to react to it.”

#SUNDAYBRUNCH @DaveAMcCarthy@JSamanthaRivera has played the best D at #StanleyCupFinal. She joined Dave to discuss fending off someone crashing her shot live on air

“My arm just came out. This is not happening. I worked way too hard to be here”

https://t.co/0tFZjGib16 pic.twitter.com/hMCyXuT39H

— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) June 11, 2023

Rivera went on to say that she thought she needed to “remind people to kind of let us do our job and let us do what we need to do.”

The fan, who has not been identified yet, appeared to be wearing a Golden Knights jersey, according to the New York Post.

Rivera, who is an American bilingual sports journalist and a Chicago native, continued to cover the Stanley Cup Final on-air despite the altercation.

after comparing this with @ClayWPLG’s from Game 1, the trophy goes to… pic.twitter.com/i2IlhbLOAc

— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) June 6, 2023

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