Austin Police Association President says armed BLM protester shot dead by driver was looking for trouble 'and found it' - as witness says the motorist was inciting violence 'by intentionally and aggressively accelerating his car into a crowd'
The President of the Austin Police Association said the armed Black Lives Matter protester shot dead by a motorist during a demonstration Saturday was looking for trouble and ‘found it’ - as witnesses come forward to suggest it was actually the driver who 'incited violence’.
APA President Kenneth Casaday first made the declaration on Twitter Sunday, accompanying the message with a video of victim Garrett Foster, 28, speaking to a reporter about why he’d chosen to march carrying an AK-47, on the night he was fatally shot.
‘This is the guy that lost his life last night,’ Casaday wrote of Saturday night’s shooting. ‘He was looking for confrontation and he found it.’
Casaday then doubled down on his declaration to CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Monday, accusing Foster of ‘picking a fight’ by walking around with an assault rifle, despite the former Air Force mechanic having a license to carry in the state.
President of the Austin Police Association Kenneth Casaday (right) said the armed Black Lives Matter protester shot dead by a motorist during a demonstration Saturday was looking for trouble and ‘found it’
Garrett Foster, 28, was shot dead on the evening of July 25 after he confronted the driver of a car who had driven his vehicle toward a hundred-strong crowd of protesters marching through the center of Austin.
‘I’m surprised to be hearing this from someone from Texas,’ Cuomo quipped, adding that the state’s gun laws would allow Foster to carry the assault rifle ‘wherever he wanted.’
When asked why he appeared to be celebrating the fact that Foster was fatally shot, Casaday responded: ‘He comes out on these videos saying, “nobody’s gonna stop me because everyone’s a bunch of p*****s”,’ referencing the clip he tweeted.
‘And he said he wouldn’t point it at cops because he knew he’d get shot. So when you tell citizens of Austin you can march where you want and nobody can stop you because they’re a bunch of p*****s – I think that’s relevant,’ he continued.
Cuomo asked the APA President whether he would consider apologizing for his comments, considering he is a representative of law enforcement, with an oath to protect and serve.
‘Maybe in hindsight it wasn't the best thing to do, but I stand by what I did. ... I just think that it was the best thing for the community to know at that time,’ Casaday responded.
Casaday also said Foster had been protesting in front of the City Manager's house with his rifle.
‘You look like you're picking a fight when you're out standing in front of the city manager's house intimidating them,’ he said.
Foster, 28, was shot dead on the evening of July 25 after he confronted the driver of a car who had driven his vehicle toward a hundred-strong crowd of protesters marching through the center of Austin.
He had been crossing 4th Street and Congress Avenue with his with his wheel-chair bound fiancee Whitney Mitchell, 28, in the moments prior, on what would prove to be the couple’s 50th and final night of protesting in the city.
Foster, who was carrying an AK-47, was shot three times by the driver who then fled the scene. The motorist later told police he fired his handgun at Foster after the activist pointed his assault rifle at his car.
A photograph obtained by DailyMail.com shows Foster standing at the driver's window moments before the fatal shots rang out. The barrel of his AK-47 appears to be pointing towards the floor, however he is leaning towards the car with right arm raised and his hand seemingly placed around the weapon's grip.
Police, who declined to identify the driver, have released the suspect as they continue their investigation.
Witnesses, however, say that Foster never raised the barrel of his gun toward the driver and was not intimidating him. They say the car swerved towards them and Foster has jumped in front of Mitchell, a quadruple amputee, fearing she was a target.
Bystander James Sasinowski told CNN that the driver was not defending himself from violence when he shot Foster, and instead said he'd been the instigator of it.
A newly surfaced photograph shows Garrett Foster at the driver's window. The barrel of the rifle is pointed towards the ground, while his right arm is high with his hand seemingly placed on the grip of the weapon
First responders are seen preparing to transport Foster to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead
Sasinowski said the driver ‘intentionally and aggressively accelerated their vehicle into a crowd of people’ prior to the shots ringing out.
‘I want to be very clear that the driver incited the violence -- he accelerated into the crowd of people and he shot first,’ Sasinowski told the network.
Shelia Foster, Garrett's mother, said her son had previously served in the military and described him as a man committed to social justice, who had peacefully protested almost every night for the past 50 days with Mitchell
Witnesses gave conflicting accounts of what happened in the moments before the shooting, including that the disturbance began when the vehicle started honking its horn, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said.
Witnesses also told police that Foster approached the car with an AK-47 assault-style rifle while others in the crowd began striking the vehicle.
Sasinowski said he couldn’t be certain if Foster ever raised his weapon at the driver, adding that he hasn’t heard any other witnesses saying that happened – contrary to the Austin PD’s claims.
One thing Sasinowski says he was certain of, though, is that the driver initiated the encounter.
‘This was intentional. It was aggressive and he accelerated into a crowd of protesters,’ Sasinowski said. ‘He could have waited for us to pass or he could have gone slowly. We would have allowed him to go through.’
Police responded to the scene just after 9:50pm when the driver dialed 911 after fleeing, telling a dispatcher he had ‘shot someone who had approached their driver’s window and pointed a rifle at them.’
Police declined to say why the driver was where he was and whether his intent was nefarious.
Foster, who did not fire his weapon, received first aid at the scene before being transported to Dell Seton Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead an hour later.
Foster had been crossing 4th Street on Congress Avenue with Mitchell and hundreds of other demonstrators when a motorist sped towards the crowd and began blaring its horn. Cell phone footage captured the moment the fatal shots rang out
Following the vigil, protesters continued to march on the Texas State Capitol to finish the demonstration which was cut short by Foster's death
The 28-year-old was originally from Plano but had been living with Mitchell in Austin for the last two years. His mother Sheila said her son had been participating in the Black Lives Matter protests for 50 days in support of Mitchell, who is African-American.
The couple began dating just over a decade ago, having first met in an online chat room and became engaged a year later.
The following month, Mitchell was struck down by a mysterious illness and later had to have all four of her limbs amputated following sepsis.
Foster had to leave for basic training two months later but was discharged from the Air Force, aged 19, to become her full time carer.
'That time when he was gone [for basic training] was so detrimental to both of them, because they were very much in love, and he had cared for her so well,' his aunt Karen Sourber told USA Today. 'He’s been her primary caretaker ever since. He just loved her unconditionally and took care of everything.'
Hundreds gathered at the scene of the shooting on Sunday evening to mourn Foster's death in a vigil led by Mitchell.
Whitney Mitchell, 28, led Black Lives Matter protesters in a vigil march for finace Garrett Foster, also 28, who was shot and killed during demonstrations in Austin, Texas, on Saturday night
Mitchell choked back tears as marchers held a moment of silence on the street where Foster was shot and killed as he approached the driver of a vehicle who opened fire
A woman clutching flowers breaks down in tears during a vigil for Garrett Foster in downtown Austin
Marchers carried signs reading 'Justice for Garrett' and laid them at the spot where he died along with candles and flower. Police have interviewed the man who shot Foster, but have released him pending further investigation
Shelia Foster said her son had been demonstrating for consecutive nights for nearly two months because ‘he felt really strongly about justice and he was very heavily against police brutality.'
Crediting her late son as 'one of the best young men you would ever know', Shelia also tearfully recounted the unconditional love Foster had for Mitchell.
'I saw my son at 19 years old brush this girl's teeth, comb her hair. He would put her on the toilet and clean her up, and he would make sure that she got bathed and make sure that she was able to get dressed and took her everywhere that she needed to go. And he's been doing that ever since,' Sheila told GMA.
'On top of grieving for my son, I worry about Whitney. Because who's going to do that for her now?' she continued. 'She just lost the love of her life, because somebody just randomly fired shots and killed my son. And I don't mean to say that anybody else's life is less valuable. I don't believe that. But I don't know why it had to be my son.'
The couple were planning on getting married, but were waiting until Mitchell mastered her prosthetics before they walked down the aisle.
Mitchell’s mother, Patricia Kirven, told the Dallas Morning News she warned her daughter about going to the protests, because she was 'afraid something would happen.'
'She physically is OK, but mentally she is not. "Inconsolable’" is the only word I can think of, because she’ll talk for a bit and then break down,' Kirven added.
Austin Police Association President says armed BLM protester shot dead by driver was looking for trouble 'and found it' - as witness says the motorist was inciting violence 'by intentionally and aggressively accelerating his car into a crowd'
![Austin Police Association President says armed BLM protester shot dead by driver was looking for trouble 'and found it' - as witness says the motorist was inciting violence 'by intentionally and aggressively accelerating his car into a crowd']()
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