One person was shot dead in Denver Saturday near dueling protests between “BLM-Antifa” supporters and a “Patriot” rally.
KUSA News reported that two of its employees, a 9NEWS producer and a private security guard, were taken into custody over the shooting. The police said the producer was released and not involved with the shooting. The private security guard is still in custody.
“A private security guard who was hired by 9NEWS is the suspect detained by DPD,” 9NEWS reported. “It has been the practice of 9NEWS for a number of months to hire private security to accompany staff at protests.”
The police said both the shooter and the victim are white.
The shooting unfolded Saturday afternoon after the “Patriot Muster” rally kicked off.
“It’s time we let these communist socialists know we have had enough,” a description of the event stated. “Fight back, push back. Time to take our country back!”
A Denver Communists group responded to news of the event by holding a counterprotests called the “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive.”
“We scheduled our action after learning that the militia-fascists had called a ‘patriot muster’ against the Black Lives Matter movement, anti-fascists and Marxists,” a spokesperson for Denver Communists said. “That’s us — guilty as charged and happy to oblige with our presence.”
Initial reports suggested a member of antifa opened fire, but police later clarified that the private security guard is the suspect, and a homicide investigation has been launched.
“Update: Further investigation has determined the suspect is a private security guard with no affiliation with Antifa. Additional information will be released as it becomes available,” the Denver Police Department tweeted.
Update: Further investigation has determined the suspect is a private security guard with no affiliation with Antifa. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.
— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) October 11, 2020
“We’re hopeful that as soon as possible we can get the factual information out as to what led to this — who the individuals involved were,” Investigations Division Chief Joe Montoya said. “We’re hopeful that that information will help kind of calm the waters a little bit.”
