He was a known and active anti fascist protester, open carry is legal in Utah*, and this guy was specifically known for open carrying and dressing like this at demonstrations. AND the “peacekeepers” poor aiming killed someone completely unrelated to any of this. Additionally, the 50501 peacekeepers at this protest were explicitly told not to carry any firearms.

The whole “he shouldn’t have been carrying”, “he was being suspicious” and general victim blaming is the same garbage rationale the cops use when they kill someone for no good reason. Some dipshit in a hi-vis vest wanted to be a hero and now an innocent person is dead. Fuck that guy

source the section about the shooting starts around the 13:30 mark

he ran away into the crowd while lifting his rifle into firing position.

So, I haven’t followed or heard of this story before, and I cannot say what happened before and after the video in the article, and what info is available outside of this article - but at the moment of the first shot, this clearly was not the case. The video shows him in all black and walking, not running, with his rifle in front, but not raised. The shooter already is in an aiming position at this point, there is nothing audible and no one around the happenings acts like there were instructions or warnings being shouted.

I will give them, that it may have been still a hard to decipher situation, and I cannot say anything about the other claims (preparing the rifle behind a wall) - but at least the whole “running at them with rifle in firing position” was either happening at another time, with them not shooting, or not happening in the way described at all.

So, yeah, their story does not check out as told, could be a whole slew of reasons, but this does not feel like an easy “it was his own fault” situation.

EDIT: Note that the second video in the article (the dashcam one) won’t load for me, so I can’t comment on that one

HIRED BY THE PROTEST ORGANIZERS

What’s with people saying “hired” now?

It was an unpaid volunteer, and as far as I know we have zero information on how much vetting was involved.

Like, where is this shit coming from?

Did you read it somewhere in a comment and are just repeating like it’s true?

Do you not understand why there’s so much criticism of these “peacekeepers”?

Did you ever read an article instead of just comments?

A growing presence at demonstrations in recent years, many protesters hold disdain for protest marshals, pejoratively called “peace police.” To many, the use of marshals hampers spontaneous and autonomous tactics, and puts those who are willing to take more risky actions during protests in danger. In some instances, these “peace police” have gone so far as to isolate and turn in to police protesters who take on more confrontational roles, leading to arrests and police violence.

This guy didn’t read the article. You missed the video evidence disputing your lies. Rest in piss.

Yeah… that’s questionable behavior. I don’t really feel like the peacekeepers really meant to kill the other guy. It’s a real shame though. I feel like a taser would’ve been a lot better suited for y’know, crowds. Edit: Actually read the article. They didn’t even talk to him first. It’s a little weird to have an AR-15 at a peaceful protest. That sorta seems like you’re about to shoot it up. But c’mon? Not even talking to him first? A little questionable.