Man killed in downtown Denver amid dueling 'anti-fascist' and 'patriot' rallies

[Celerity]

Just as the “Patriot Muster” appeared to be ending, someone was killed.

https://denverite.com/2020/10/10/person-shot-in-downtown-denver-amid-dueling-anti-fascist-and-patriot-rallies/

A man was killed outside of the Denver Public Library’s downtown branch Saturday afternoon, just as two groups were dispersing after hours of competing ideological rallies in nearby Civic Center Park. The suspect is a private security guard “with no affiliation with Antifa,” the police department tweeted late Saturday. 9News reported the suspect was hired by the television station.

Link to tweet

Just after 3:30 p.m. when the shooting happened, the man who was shot fell over and was loaded into an ambulance within a few minutes. Police immediately surrounded the man who appeared to fire the gun and took him into custody. Both the shooter and the victim were white, police say, but they would not give any other information about what brought the victim to the dueling rallies. It was a deadly end to a day that saw a handful of scuffles, plenty of shouting, but little other direct confrontation.

John “Tig” Tiegen, an El Paso County resident who filed re-election paperwork for President Donald Trump in Colorado, a former Marine, and founder of a group called the United American Defense Force, organized what he called a “Patriot Muster.” His group of about 150 people, many of whom were decked out in paramilitary gear and some of whom appeared to be carrying concealed handguns, was gathered in the Greek Amphitheatre at Civic Center Park.

Just to the north side of the theater, the Denver Communists, Colorado Socialist Revolution and other groups held a “Black Lives Matter Anti-Fascist Soup Drive.” They organized it just after Tiegen announced his own event, and collected hundreds of cans of soup through the afternoon. It appeared to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to Trump’s July claim that protesters had assaulted police officers with cans of soup.

snip


just wanted to add this INSANE part

the MAGAts and white nationalists are now calling people AGAINST them Fascists and Nazis!

wtf

Ten minutes later, Tiegen told his gathered crowd that the other side was composed of fascists and Nazis.

“We’ve got to fight back and push back,” he said to cheers.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Denver Post journalist witnessed it; photos from just before and after

The incident occurred after a man participating in what was billed a “Patriot Rally” sprayed mace at another man. That man then shot the other individual with a handgun near the courtyard outside the Denver Art Museum, according to a Denver Post journalist who witnessed the incident.

In a news conference after the incident, division Chief Joe Montoya, said police could not confirm the shooter’s or the victim’s affiliations, but said the incident started as a verbal altercation. Two guns were found at the scene, he said, as well as a mace can.

When asked about the 9News report, Montoya said he could not confirm any connection, only saying that the department was still interviewing witnesses. One of those witnesses was a Denver Post photojournalist.

https://www.denverpost.com/2020/10/10/denver-protests-saturday-civic-center-park/

Several photos there; one shows the "Patriot Rally" guy in an earlier confrontation with another man (probably a BLM counterprotester), and he's got a can of mace in his hand there too. Then he's slapped the security guard in the face (the caption says 'punch', but it's an open hand), then he reaches for his mace, the guard takes out his gun, the mace is used, then the guard shoots him.

[The Magistrate]

2. Sounds Like Self-Defense, Sir