Posted on 10/11/2020 11:02:37 AM PDT by FreedomPoster
Sadly, we learned that another series of protests in Denver turned violent again yesterday with one protester being fatally shot. The unique twist here is that the shooter in police custody is confirmed to be a armed guard hired by a local news outlet, 9News. Most media outlets are covering that aspect but a few are quite intentionally omitting that fact from their reporting.
At this point in time, we don’t know all the facts of what precipitated this shooting, but we do know that the shooting victim discharged what appeared to be a chemical defense spray prior to being shot. Between witness accounts and police surveillance video of the area, police will likely have a good picture of what occurred relatively soon. We can expect that the shooter will claim self-defense.
However, this does bring up some interesting points. In my personal experience as a sheriff, media outlets and most reporters have been critical of private citizens possessing firearms for self-defense. We now have confirmation from at least one local media outlet that it is common practice for their station to covertly employ private citizens as armed guards during events like the protests in downtown Denver.
Is this an acknowledgement that they believe these rallies are dangerous or potentially violent and / or that carrying concealed firearms by private citizens for self-defense is a legitimate right?
I suspect that the family of the shooting victim will not only advocate for criminal charges against the 9News contracted employee, but will also name the station in a lawsuit for wrongful death. At some point, the television station will have to take both a public position on the shooting and also a legal position on the situation through their legal counsel. How transparent will 9News be about their practices of employing armed guards? How transparent will they be about what transpired in this situation? Will they release any video and / or records that pertain to this incident or their overall practice of employing armed guards? Will they allow their employees to be interviewed by other journalists?
Other media outlets and reporters will be challenged by this situation as well. Will they question the practice of inserting covert armed guard into these protests? Will they question the backgrounds, tactics and de-escalation training of the contracted armed guards employed by 9News and other media outlets? I pose the questions, because those are nearly identical to the questions that media outlets pose to police agencies when they are involved in deadly force encounters today.
I won’t make predictions here. I will, however, remind the media that the eyes of the citizens are on them and I challenge them to treat this fatal encounter with the same scrutiny they treat encounters involving police officers and other private citizens.
The lawsuits against 9News and Pinkerton should be interesting. I expect a quick settlement as I doubt 9News wants much discovery.
Why did the tv station hire a “guard” whose Facebook posts showed him to be mentally unstable?
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The media getting directly involved is shades of “Natural Born Killers.”
Who from the station was this “armed” guard protecting? I’m not sure what him being a guard means in this situation. Was the mouthy guy working for the station? Who exactly was being protected. Why did the stations guard feel the need to get involved?
Links?
Security guards supposed to have background checks and be bondable? Armed ones at least anyway.
Charged Denver Shooter Matthew Dolloff’s Left-Wing Facebook Posts
Big League Politics ^ | 10/11/20| Richard Moorehead
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3892678/posts
The mouthy guy was a provocateur, he was not the gunman.
Here is what I posted:
“Who from the station was this “armed” guard protecting? I’m not sure what him being a guard means in this situation. Was the mouthy guy working for the station? Who exactly was being protected. Why did the stations guard feel the need to get involved?”
I didn’t say the mouthy guy was anything. Reread. Again, who was the guard protecting? Was the mouthy guy working for the station? Why did the guard feel the need to use deadly force?
The mouthy guy was part of an attempt to bait the patriots into a violent response and the reporter was on-site to record it. The guard "guard" tried to grab the can of pepper spray away from the tattooed biker guy (sound familiar?). When the biker guy shoved back and raised the can of pepper spray, the "guard" shot him.
THANK YOU! Now I’m beginning to get the picture.
Denver evening news has a different format than most TV stations. Kyle Clark basically carries the show as the only anchor … he comes across as smug and full of himself. This incident is going to hurt … Kyle Clark probably won't be around long … wait till the lawsuits star flying. Lawyers are already lined up.
Yours is the best explanation to go with the still photos I have seen. The dead guy was standing still, guard walking towards him, arm out. Dead guy is pulling back one arm and extending the other. I noticed the reporter is behind the guard, so why wasn’t the guard protecting him. If someone tried to disarm me of my spray, I would push back against him. If he raised his weapon in response to the shove ...
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Photo of the moment of the shot.
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkBcrWsXYAE0h_s?format=jpg&name=large
Later.
bumpmark
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