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A Nebraska bar owner that killed a rioter has been charged with “terrorism” and “manslaughter” by a District Attorney who initially admitted it was blatant self defense.
The DA has also admitted that they were “pressured” by local activists and politicians to bring the charges.
The bar owner, Jake Gardner, has now been indicted by a grand jury on counts of manslaughter, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, attempted first-degree assault and making terrorist threats.
On May 30, the 38-year-old bar owner confronted a group of rioters outside one of the bars he owns in Omaha and was knocked to the ground.
“From there, he fired two warning shots and tried to get to his feet, prosecutors said. As he did, Gardner got into a fight with one man, James Scurlock, 22. The two scuffled before Gardner fired a shot that killed him,” Yahoo News reports.
Young Black Male Killed In Omaha Nebraska Protest by local Buisiness Owner !!! RT pic.twitter.com/ieTGejA9jH
— Lil Christ Kross (@Only1Kross) May 31, 2020
The incident prompted a wave of further “protests,” particularly after Donald Kleine, the Douglas County attorney, determined that Gardner had acted in self-defense and declined to bring charges.
“A week later, Kleine said in a statement that after hearing from local residents and elected officials he would welcome an outside review ‘in this rare instance.’ He added, ‘I made a decision and I would not change that decision based on everything I know today,’” the Yahoo report explains.
Douglas County District Court Judge Shelly Stratman then appointed a special council, Fredrick Franklin, an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Omaha, to handle the case, though they said they expected the same outcome.
Instead, Franklin bowed to pressure and dug up evidence and came up with charges.
“The manslaughter charge, he said, is related to Scurlock’s death; the attempted assault charge resulted from the second warning shot Gardner fired; the charge of making terrorist threats is linked to ‘a verbal confrontation’ that Gardner had with Scurlock, Franklin continued,” Yahoo reports.
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