Protester shot dead as left and right groups clash in Denver
A split-second to live: The protesters hoses the security guard with pepper spray before shots rang out. Photo: Denver Post/Twitter
America’s increasingly violent road to its November 3 presidential election has taken another turn for the worse with the shooting death of a Denver protester
The man, whose name has not yet been released, was felled with a bullet to the head during duelling protests by left-wing and right-wing groups in the mountain city’s downtown.
Police immediately arrested a suspect they said was working as a private security guard for a local TV station’s news crew.
An NBC News affiliate, KUSA-TV, confirmed on its website the man arrested for the shooting was on its payroll.
The moment someone opened fire on another person in Denver. https://t.co/lvC3KAYKjE
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 10, 2020
“It has been the practice of (KUSA) for a number of months to hire private security to accompany staff at protests,” the station said.
The shooting took place in a courtyard at the Denver Art Museum during a so-called “Patriot Rally” that was met by counter-protesters who dubbed their rally a “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive”.
Denver Police Chief of Investigations Joe Montoya would not confirm if the suspect worked for the station.
Montoya said police kept the two groups separated and there were no other arrests during the competing rallies.
-AAP
