DENVER, CO – The security guard who shot and killed a US Navy veteran at the Denver Patriot Rally has been released on bond. He had been in custody since the shooting death on October 10th of this year, until posting a $500,000 bond.
Gunfire near civic center park! Appears one person was shot. Another in custody. pic.twitter.com/xB4Q2hMAid
— Lance Hernandez (@lancehernandez7) October 10, 2020
Valerie Cole, the assigned public defender for the security guard, Matthew Dolloff, argued earlier that the bond should be reduced from $500,000 to somewhere in between of $25,000 and $50,000. Her reasons, that Dolloff acted in self defense and that he had deep ties to the community and did not have a criminal record.
Cole said:
“The district attorney has already declined to file a charge of first-degree murder. I think that speaks to the obvious nature, the obvious questions of self-defense in this particular case.”
What Cole fails to mention is that first degree murder requires that somebody intentionally decided that they had woken up that day and planned on killing a specific person a specific way. Second degree murder implies that the suspect did not have plans nor a specific way planned to kill someone, just that they did through criminal action.
The prosecutor for the case, Austin Leighty, countered:
“The court needs to consider the public safety and the community safety risk that is out there should the bond be posted. And an unquestioned fact in this case: Mr. Dolloff brought a gun to downtown Denver and killed somebody.”
After hearing arguments from both sides, Judge John Madden ultimately denied any reductions in the bond. However, Dolloff was able to secure the funds needed and posted bond and was released on November 3rd.
The incident stemmed from an altercation that Dolloff, while employed as a security guard for a KUSA-TV producer, with US Navy veteran Lee Keltner. During dueling protests, “Patriot Muster” and “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive,” Dolloff and Keltner got into a confrontation after Keltner was seen allegedly arguing with a black man as the rallies dispersed.
As the rallies were ending and people were heading home, things turned sour quickly. According to witnesses, one of the law enforcement supporters sprayed mace at a protester. That patriot was then shot at point blank range.
In the video below, a cloud of red mist can be seen, presumably the pepper spray. The videographer moved towards the scene after the shot rang out. As they get closer, you can see police move in on a suspect, while a man can be seen laying on the ground.
According the the US Sun, whose headline billed the victim as a right-wing militia member, reported:
“The victim sprayed mace at another demonstrator, who then shot the mace-wielding protester with a handgun, the Denver Post reported.
Ambulances rushed to the scene immediately after the violent clash and transported the victim to a hospital, where he died. Hours after the shooting, Denver authorities confirmed to KUSA that the victim died.”
The Patriot Muster was organized by John “Tig” Tiegen. For any of our readers unfamiliar with Tiegen, he was one of the survivors of the US Consulate in Benghazi, Lebanon that led to the deaths of four Americans, including to members of the security team that Tiegen was a member of.
Their story was put on the big screen in the movie 13 Hours. Tiegen is a ardent supporter of both President Trump and law enforcement.
He told a local radio station last week that he hoped that the events were non-violent.
“But, if they come towards me and come at me violent, I’m coming back 10 times fold.”
The other rally, as reported by the Denverite, was:
“the Denver Communists, Colorado Socialist Revolution and other groups organized what they called ‘A Black Lives Matter Anti-Fascist Soup Drive.’ That appears to be a reference to Trump’s July claim that protesters had assaulted police officers with cans of soup. The event’s original title was ‘Rally to Oppose Fascism.’”
But, the Antifa rally was scheduled to “drown out” the Patriot Muster.
October 10, 2020
DENVER, CO – All hell is breaking loose in the Mile High City. Clashing ideologies met today, with Antifa-inspired ‘ideas’ on one side, and pro-police patriots on the other.
It left one person dead.
As the rallies took place, the two sides had very little face-to-face interaction. Police had cordoned off the Greek Amphitheater, making it hard for the two sides to come into contact. Denver Police had help from at least one other metro-area sheriff’s department.
As the rallies were ending and people were heading home, things turned sour quickly. According to witnesses, one of the law enforcement supporters sprayed mace at a protester. That patriot was then shot at point blank range.
In the video below, a cloud of red mist can be seen, presumably the pepper spray. The videographer moved towards the scene after the shot rang out. As they get closer, you can see police move in on a suspect, while a man can be seen laying on the ground.
Video Player
It was not immediately known of the man that was shot randomly sprayed mace at the suspect, or of it was done in self-defense.
According the the US Sun, whose headline billed the victim as a right-wing militia member, reported:
“The victim sprayed mace at another demonstrator, who then shot the mace-wielding protester with a handgun, the Denver Post reported.
Ambulances rushed to the scene immediately after the violent clash and transported the victim to a hospital, where he died.
Hours after the shooting, Denver authorities confirmed to KUSA that the victim died.”
The Patriot Muster was organized by John “Tig” Tiegen. For any of our readers unfamiliar with Tiegen, he was one of the survivors of the US Consulate in Benghazi, Lebanon that led to the deaths of four Americans, including to members of the security team that Tiegen was a member of.
Their story was put on the big screen in the movie 13 Hours. Tiegen is a ardent supporter of both President Trump and law enforcement.
He told a local radio station last week that he hoped that the events were non-violent.
“But, if they come towards me and come at me violent, I’m coming back 10 times fold.”
The other rally, as reported by the Denverite, was:
“the Denver Communists, Colorado Socialist Revolution and other groups organized what they called ‘A Black Lives Matter Anti-Fascist Soup Drive.’ That appears to be a reference to Trump’s July claim that protesters had assaulted police officers with cans of soup. The event’s original title was ‘Rally to Oppose Fascism.’”
But, the Antifa rally was scheduled to “drown out” the Patriot Muster.
The Denver Communists, posted Friday on Facebook:
“We feel it is our responsibility to vocally oppose fascists every time the try to assemble. And we hope you feel the same way! And what are our options? To cede our streets to them?
We scheduled our action after learning that the militia-fascists had called a patriot muster against the Black Lives Matter movement, anti-fascists and Marxists,’ a spokesperson for Denver Communists told Westword.
That’s us — guilty as charged and happy to oblige with our presence.”
Yes, Antifa communists see John Tiegen as a militiaman.
As seen in the cellphone video above, after the shots rang out, police on the scene immediately took the shooter and one other person into custody. Ambulance crews nearby went to work on the victim, transporting him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“The shooting is being investigated as a homicide, DPD said.
DPD originally said that two suspects were in custody, and later found that the second individual was not involved in the incident. DPD said the second individual was a person of interest at the time of their arrest.”
While the reasons are unknown, a 9NEWS employee and contractor were taken into custody ay the scene. 9News states that they have not been contacted by either of their employees and do not currently know where either of them is.
As we have been writing this story, Denver police released an update via their Twitter feed.
Law Enforcement Today has not been able to find any details regarding private security firms that were engaged in working the event for either group.
It is not known at this point why a security guard would pull a weapon and fire it at someone from point blank range, or if it was done in the line of on-the-clock responsibilities or in a civilian capacity.
This is an ongoing story and we will provide updates as they become available.
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