Guns Kill
Guns KillIBT

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest march in Austin, Texas took an ugly turn when an alleged Trump supporter drove through a crowd of protesters. A protest video reveals that 5 AK-47 shots being fired followed by 3 shots from a 9 mm weapon.

The other side claims that it wasn't a peaceful protester, but an AK-47 assault rifle-wielding Garrett Foster who first took 5-unsuccessful shots at the driver of a black sedan stopped by the BLM protesters. Following which the driver who was allegedly being shot at, returned fire, killing Foster after a brief exchange of fire. The driver took 3 shots from a 9mm at Garrett which proved fatal.

A video that soon surfaced online shows Foster on record open-carrying an AK-47. The screengrabs of the shooting incident show Garrett pointing his weapon towards the vehicle. The video however is not conclusive from the angle it was shot, a police probe will reveal the actual story.

Following the shooting, a BLM protester Garrett Foster was killed. While the BLM side claims that Foster was a peaceful protester and was shot and killed by a MAGA supporter, the other side has a different version.

Soon after this shooting and the killing of Foster, Twitter filled up with reactionary tweets; some in favour, some against slain Foster.

Those in favour said:

"Every video of the AK-47 incident in Austin shows the Trump supporter violently drive into a crowd of protestors prompting Garret Foster to use his AK for defense, the driver then shot Foster dead. This is clear intent to cause harm/murder on part of the MAGA supporting driver," feels David C Kemp.

"I have confirmed that Garrett Foster was a dedicated ally and veteran who was supporting the Black Lives Matter Austin Protests. He and his wife Whitney were high school sweethearts. He was trying to get protesters away from the car, and was murdered in front of his paraplegic wife," Savion wrote.

"Last night in Austin, Texas an alleged Trump supporter drove through a crowd of protesters and shot and killed BLM protester Garrett Foster who was peacefully protesting. This is Trump's America," wrote Mrs. Krassenstein

"There are so many takes about the driver and the protestor with the AK-47 in Austin from people who weren't even there. I have no idea what happened and neither do you. We need to wait for the actual investigation with the facts and evidence before jumping to biased conclusions," writes a sensible, Eugene Gu, MD.

Those blaming Garrett said

"A peaceful protester that shot his AK47 into the car 5 times before the driver defended himself and shot back and killed him. There are plenty of cars trying to get through, he's not the only car on the road clearly. "Defund Police" and "take away AR15s" yet who's carrying the AK," writes Alec.

"Austin: Black Lives Matter protesters blocked the streets. A car was trying to get through. One of the BLM protesters, Garrett Foster, fired five shots at the vehicle with an AK47. He missed every shot. The driver fired back three times. Killing him," writes Ian Miles.

"Interesting story out of Austin re: the rioter that was killed. Different accounts of what happened but everyone seems to agree that the dead person was carrying an AK-47. If you're rioting, you're armed, and you make even a perceived threat, don't complain when you're shot," feels Joe.

Some Tweets and videos: