Armed and slain
Protester tragedy
An armed Black Lives Matter protester was shot and killed in Austin, Texas, Saturday by a driver who plowed into a crowd of demonstrators.
Garrett Foster, 28, was shot three times after the unidentified driver, honking his horn, drove into the throng of protesters shortly before 10 p.m.
Foster had been pushing his quadruple-amputee fiancee’s wheelchair when he confronted the man behind the wheel, the protester’s mother told ABC’s “Good Morning America” Sunday.
Sheila Foster said her son and his fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, who had taken part in several BLM protests, were at Fourth Street and Congress Avenue when the gunman opened fire.
“And this gentleman got out of his car and started firing shots, and my son was shot three times,” she said.
The mom acknowledged that Foster was licensed to carry a gun — and witnesses at the scene confirmed he was armed with a long gun.
He was rushed to Dell Seton Medical Center, where he died.
Garrett Foster and Whitney met as teenagers and moved to Austin several years ago, and took part in recent protests together, his mother said Sunday in a separate interview with the Dallas Morning News.
“He was going to these protests because he was fighting against police brutality,” she said. “He was pushing her wheelchair across the intersection when this happened. Thank God she didn’t get hit.”
Eyewitness Michael Capochiano told The Statesman that “there were people around the car, yelling, and people sounding like they were frightened.”
He said Foster “dropped to the ground when he got shot.”
Austin police said the driver is in custody and cooperating with police.