A Black Lives Matter protester was fatally shot in Texas when he approached a vehicle with his rifle and the driver inside opened fire, police said.
The shooting happened just before 10 p.m. during a protest in Austin, police spokesperson Katrina Ratliff told reporters early Sunday. The man was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
The vehicle had honked, turned down a road, and then drove toward the protesters, witness Michael Capochiano told the Austin American-Statesman. The BLM protester, who Capochiano said was carrying a rifle, approached the vehicle, and was shot by the driver. The driver then drove away, Capochiano said.
Initial reports did say that “the victim may have been carrying a rifle,” Ratliff told reporters, adding that the driver was detained and was cooperating with police.
The Black Lives Matter protest was streamed live on Facebook and videos posted to Twitter captured several gunshots fired.
The BLM protester was identified as Garrett Foster who earlier had been recorded saying that “people who hate us” are “too big of p-ssies to actually do anything about it” after he was asked why he was carrying a rifle.
Foster said he was carrying an AK-47 when asked what type of rifle he had.
