Famous Last Words

As they say, there are two sides to every story. And Austin is abuzz with the tragedy which played out during the protest in downtown last night. Many people were and still are giving their knee-jerk armchair judgements about who fired first, and their justification for taking the side of the deceased Garrett Foster. This is the interview he gave to IMHIRAMLIVE a short time before the shooting: https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1287278680817823747?s=21

Hiram also gave a testimonial of his ear witness to the shooting later that evening. In it, he states what he heard, how he could not count the number of shots fired, could not and did not see what actually happened, and that protesters are always being shot.

https://www.pscp.tv/w/cex_6DFXTEtSWXZ4QVZlUWJ8MXlwS2R3bkxrcVF4V2EXfeOTULTQ-8x7DmpalfyAquUoynEBRjBf9JPC-iqK?t=2m7s

But this is the one side which is being played out. And after seeing multiple posts and responses from hundreds of others in Twitter, the story begins to change.

Many people state unequivocally that the driver of the Hyundai was driving through the crowd of protesters trying to run them down. When in reality, the driver came from 4St onto Congress into the main pack of protesters. The driver began to try to get clear, but was blocked in on all sides. In the first photo, you can clearly see their brake lights on with Garrett Foster pointing his AK-47 directly at the driver as the blown up photo shows.

Listening to the video of the shooting, you can hear five shots, then three more with a different sound. Austin Police Department is currently investigating many different versions of what happened, and the driver of the vehicle stated in their 911 call that they had just shot someone who had approached their driver’s window and pointed a rifle at them. (see photos in story)

What may have led Garrett Foster to arm himself was an incident earlier that day in Aurora Colorado. An turquoise Jeep drove down I-255 through protesters, allegedly firing and hitting one of them.

But as photo, video, ear and eye witnesses came forward it was discovered that the driver had been threatened, their vehicle vandalized, and felt no other choice than to flee for their own personal safety. And the shooting was later discovered to had been by someone in the protests.

On June 29 2020, two teenagers were shot which resulted in one fatality. Prior to the July 1 2020 dismantling of CHAZ, there were a total of five victims shot in separate shootings through June. To date and checking updates, no suspects have been arrested.

Motorists unaware that they have entered a protest area are hard pressed to make an exit safely, as protesters are too quick to begin to block, intimidate, vandalise, and threaten people who just wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is not peaceful, but more of a mob mentality.

And while everyone else is armchair judging the events, the serious question of how to avoid a tragedy like this are not being addressed. Mainly, if the protesters had simply allowed someone to drive through without incident, Garrett would likely still be alive.