Posted on 08/11/2020 6:25:25 AM PDT by real saxophonist
People showed up looking for a fight Fort Collins Chief to announce more charges in weekend brawl
by: Alex Rose
Aug 10, 2020
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (KDVR) Fort Collins Police Chief Jeff Swodoba spent the weekend looking at viral videos of a dozen men brawling in a ditch about a block away from his stations headquarters.
These werent kids after a high school game that were just excited and getting into a fight, these are grown men you know getting in a fight, Chief Swoboda said. Its sad for the community. Sad for individuals who do that kind of stuff.
What started as a pro-police rally on Saturday got heated, as counter protestors and rally goers escalated conversations into confrontations.
The chief says there were aggressors on both sides.
You do see one group pushing another group, telling them to leave and they cant be there, well thats not their place, Swoboda said. Theyre not the arbiters of who can be there and who cant.
So far, three people have been arrested, and another cited for the incident, but the chief says more charges are coming after people came forward with information and video to help investigators in the case.
People showed up, they were looking for a fight. They show up with brass knuckles, knives, guns, fireworks, OC Spray, they got a Kevlar vest on, Swoboda said.
Multiple sources tell the Problem Solvers a counter protestor pepper sprayed a disabled veteran, which triggered the brawl. The chief confirms hearing those reports, but cant confirm thats exactly what happened.
The department is still investigating what triggered the scuffle.
The chief says safety for his officers was a top priority during the rally, and they responded as soon as they heard reports of the fight.
Standing with our backs to people who are armed, who are showing up to these events with bulletproof vests, its not safe to go in there and do that, Swoboda said.
Event organizers are planning another pro-police rally in Fort Collins this Friday. Swoboda hopes the focus is more on productive conversations between rally goers and protestors, which did take place last Saturday, before the fight broke out.
Simply putting on a t-shirt that says I support police, and then going out and breaking the laws and getting in fights, we dont want that kind of support, Swoboda said. We dont need it. Dont come.
They were dressed in antifa uniforms too... all black, masks over their faces.
Translation: We'll protect our own safety, but not yours.
What a wimp!
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