SHOT DEAD AT U.S RIGHT-WING RALLY
TV news crew security guard held over killing
A FAR-right activist sprays mace at a TV news crew security guard moments before being shot dead, as political turmoil continues to rage in the US.
The shooting happened after clashes between a far-right “patriot muster rally” and anti-fascist protesters.
In footage filmed seconds before the killing, victim Lee Keltner is seen in a group arguing with a rival protester.
He then pulls his Stars and Stripes neckerchief over his face as he moves off-camera – where pictures show him appear to clash physically with private security guard Matthew Dolloff.
On the video, a single shot is heard – and further pictures show Keltner lying motionless on his back, the mace can beside him, as Dolloff, 30, keeps his handgun trained on him.
The guard himself is then seen on his knees, hands in the air, as armed police surround him. Two guns were recovered at the scene.
Police in Denver, Colorado, said the death is being treated as homicide.
Chief investigator Joe Montoya said: “There was a verbal altercation at the area of the shooting.”
Hat-maker Keltner had previously served in the US military. His son Jay, 24, who saw him being shot, said in an online post: “I can’t believe my dad’s gone. This will never be right.”
Keltner’s mum Carol claimed that her son had been “murdered because he backed the police”. The incident came as the rally, near Denver Art Museum, was ending on Saturday.
Earlier, a counter-protester burned a blue Stars and Stripes flag, used by pro-police groups, in front of officers.
The rally was one of many such events across the US since the death of George Floyd as a white officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis in May.
In July, a “Back the Blue” rally to support police, organised by ex-Marine John Tiegen, descended into chaos when opposing groups clashed.
On Saturday Tiegen had summoned followers to the Denver rally with the slogan “Stand up, show up”.
It echoed Donald Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacists the Proud Boys, telling them instead to “stand back and stand by”.
Unrest in the US since Mr Floyd’s death has led to a string of deaths, including two anti-racism protesters allegedly shot by a 17- year- old in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August.