Free Arturo

I understand the need to not give the jackboots an excuse, but WTF is this HOA nonsense at a protest?

They're doing it everywhere. So they can get pictures of everyone's face for their Palantir gestapo database
- Yeah, given the moment in the US, wearing a mask is just the prudent thing to do. The government's own agents are doing it.
- I dont actually think thats the reason. I think its a, misguided, attempt to be able to say "look, its a peaceful protest!"

Yeah send Venmo money to this random QR code! Clowns.

Edit: reports say he was seen move away from the crowd, hid behind a low wall where he removed his rifle from his backpack, and "assumed a firing position" and moved back towards the crowd. No amount of Open Carry allows you to raise that rifle into a ready to shoot position without repercussions.

That smells like a "he's coming right for us" bullshit report.
- So how do you explain away the whole showing up with your rifle hidden in a backpack, and then hiding to take it out. Open carry all you want, why the fuck would you do that in the middle of a tense protest
Yeah send Venmo money to this random QR code!
Yeah actually, who does this actually get Venmo'ed to? The Mastodon post didn't really clarify that IMO.
Edit: so I haven't tried this myself, but according to Salt Lake County Corrections, you can donate online, but I'm not 100% sure we have enough information to do so. Also I imagine you'd have to give the State your personal info. Link is below for people who trust the cops more than the QR code. (Personally, my trust for the cops is negative so I trust the random QR code more.)
https://www.saltlakecounty.gov/sheriff/corrections/deposit/
Link to the reports? Any actual evidence or is it statement by the police?
The clip shows he's not in a ready to shoot position
- What clip, nothing in this post is a clip, nothing in the link is a clip its all images.
You clearly have not interacted with anarchists before
Nooooooo. It's a leftist DO NOT BRING FACTS AND LOGIC just support them blindly and "amplify the message" from somewhere you don't live or know jus because it aligns with your narrative.
Kinda crazy tbh. At least it's not Twitter I guess.

There's not much that's more fascist than cops killing people and then prosecuting the surviving victims. Totally normal in USA.

Zero surprise that normies eat it up. We're indoctrinated into copaganda our while lives.

cops didn't fire the shots, volunteers did
- Not police, just peace police. ACAB.

A single blurry still doesn't pose a convincing argument that he was or wasn't pointing the weapon towards the crowds.

I've not seen enough to conclude either way. So many contradicting things.

If you were wanting to assist with security, when someone obviously doing security addresses you then you'd try and comply, and explain your intent. But did the security actually address him? Or did he just run away from a gun pointed at him? Or did he have his gun pointed in the direction of the crowd while moving towards the crowd and ignoring security? Much of this doesn't make sense.

A single blurry still doesn't pose a convincing argument that he was or wasn't pointing the weapon towards the crowds.
We don't go around making plausible reasons and then asking the victim to prove them wrong. Maybe the killers are lying to cover their ass?
Facts on the ground is: Arturo didn't shoot anyone, had a right to carry, a bystander was killed by the "good guys" and Arturo was shot himself. Nothing in all of this proves that Arturo was a danger to anyone.
- "Innocent until proven guilty" mfs when the accused is a leftist
- Just because he didn't shoot anyone, doesn't mean his alleged actions wouldn't cause the same reaction or worse from any other reasonable person.
  Again, things aren't lining up with the two sides/stories.
If you want to know what actually happened, just listen to the cops and then believe the opposite.
- I like the spirit, but IMO we need more "on the ground" details to come to an actual conclusion. Cops suck but there are lots of ways to come up with "the opposite story".
  I'm working under "innocent until proven guilty" logic, but as of this posting I absolutely cannot make any positive conclusion about what happened other than the one second video clip posted in the comments.
Security was across the street and started shooting before he ever acknowledged them. They were far enough that it's conceivable he didn't hear them at all. He didn't run until they fired. This is all in the link they provided. It's a video, not a still.
The burden of proof is on the ones accusing and having people detained.
You don’t have to prove you didn’t do something. The state has to prove that you did do it. We should assume he is innocent in the absence of evidence.

This explains the convulated reporting I suppose

At the least, it's reasonable to expect someone who claims to be an "armed peacekeeper" to check their background before shooting. I don't know if that firearms sin is worth criminal charges or not, but it's bad practice.

Why is the name of the victim everywhere but the killer gets anonymity?

Id guess 50501 contracted with off duty cops.

I've kept quiet about this online so far, but my local 50501/no kings organizers are dangerously uninformed about organizing protests and haven't taken any of the experienced local organizer's advice about security at these events. They're literally primarily organized on a "liberal women's" Facebook group. At least in my area, experienced community organizers have been staying well clear of their mess. Let them gather all the white liberals from the suburbs to go kettle themselves on a pedestrian bridge and yell at cars passing them by. They'll learn why the experienced community defenders don't want anything to do with them after it's too late, but it's not like any of us are surprised by right wingers coopting and declawing a protest movement.

That's the signal I keep hearing as well

Glad I took the advice of my brown activist friends and didn't support 50501. They're a sketch organization from the start.

I'm remembering back to the story just a couple of days ago and I'm thinking about all the commenters who immediately accepted the story of the 'peacekeeper' guy - and the official line from the police - that Arturo was raising his weapon and heading towards the crowd, so the 'peacekeeper' shot "in defence of the crowd". Many commenters repeated the line he had been, "likely about to do a mass murder - it's very sad that a bystander died, but they just prevented a shooting spree". Anyone saying 'wtf why is the actual killer not arrested' and suggesting that we only had one side of the story (the killer's, who the cops were suspiciously immediately siding with) and that there is no proof beyond biased witness claims yet - was being downvoted.

Remember this shit next time you take the word of the police at face value when very few facts are available.

Right, a famously conservative state and their police department are part of a liberal plot. Makes sense.

Liberal politicians, despite their bellyaching, always end up funding the police and standing up for them when push comes to shove.
I don't even think it's a "liberal plot". It's just shitty police work on top of the mistake of one trigger-happy peacekeeper. But it's absolutely ridiculous to think that Democratic and Republican parties are practically different when it comes to funding the police.
- Liberal politicians, despite their bellyaching, always end up funding the police and standing up for them when push comes to shove.
  That's irrelevant to the conversation, though. It would be a conservative DA pressing charges and deciding not to charge the peace keeper.
  Honestly I'm surprised they didn't let the guy who got shot go and throw the peacekeeper in prison right off the bat.
Libs are right wing. We literally got trump because the alternative was also fascist.
- Liberals and fascists are both right-wing, but liberals are not fascist.
- K

I don’t see any explanation of why he was trying to blend in with the crowd while injured and hiding his weapon in his backpack. Why didn’t he work with the protest group to get on their protection detail.

Please do not victim blame. People act strange when being shot at sometimes. He was within his rights to carry and not work with official organizations.
Really?

Note to self: aim and fire your weapon after being shot.

DAMN. Yeah that story slipped past me. Thanks for the post.