A private security guard working for a Denver TV station is behind bars and accused in the deadly shooting of another man during dueling right- and left-wing protests, police said Sunday. Matthew Dolloff, 30, was booked into jail for investigation of first-degree murder following the clash Saturday afternoon, the Associated Press reports. The victim was Lee Keltner, a 49-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who operated a hat-making business in the Denver area. “He wasn’t a part of any group,” his son, Johnathon, told the Denver Post. “He was there to rally for the police department and he’d been down there before rallying for the police department.” Dolloff not licensed to work as a guard in the city, officials said, the Washington Post reports.
A man appearing to be Keltner participating in what was billed a “Patriot Rally” slapped and sprayed Mace at a man who appeared to be Dolloff. The man identified as Dolloff drew a gun from his waistband and shot the other person, said a Denver Post journalist who witnessed the episode. The shooting occurred beneath a city surveillance camera, and police said they have footage of the incident, KUSA-TV reported. KUSA said it had hired the guard through the Pinkerton security firm. “It has been the practice of 9NEWS for a number of months to hire private security to accompany staff at protests,” the station said. The right-wing “Patriot Rally” was one of two demonstrations happening at the same time that drew hundreds of people to a park. Protesters at a left-wing “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive” nearby held up flags and signs opposing Nazis and white supremacists.