A Black Lives Matter protester, who was shot dead during in Texas by a driver who sped toward the crowd before opening fire Saturday night...
A Black Lives Matter protester, who was shot dead during in Texas by a driver who sped toward the crowd before opening fire Saturday night, was pushing his quadruple amputee fiancee in her wheelchair just moments before the shooting.
The victim has been identified as Garrett Foster, whose mother, Sheila, spoke to Good Morning America on Sunday.
Foster's mother said her son had attended several peaceful protests with his fiancee Whitney Mitchell, who is a quadruple amputee. Sheila said Foster was pushing his fiancee right before he was fatally shot.
The shooting happened just before 10pm during a protest in Austin, police spokesperson Katrina Ratliff told reporters early Sunday.
Garrett Foster (pictured with his fiancee), who was shot dead during a demonstration in Texas when he approached a vehicle Saturday night, was pushing his quadruple amputee fiancee in her wheelchair just moments before the shooting
Foster (pictured with his fiancee) was seen holding an AK-47 while speaking to media before he was killed Saturday night
In the clip, Foster (pictured at the protest) is heard saying: 'They don't let us march in the streets anymore so gotta practice some of our rights'
During the demonstration, a vehicle had honked, turned down a road and then sped toward protesters, witness Michael Capochiano said.
The vehicle became surrounded by shouting protesters, and Foster approached the vehicle carrying his AK-47, Capochiano recalled.
The driver then stuck a gun out of the car window and fired several shots, hitting Foster, before speeding away, according to the witness.
But Foster's mother said the man 'got out of his car and started firing shots, and my son was shot three times'.
Foster was then rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Sheila told GMA that she wouldn't be surprised if her son was carrying a gun because he was licensed to carry and probably 'would've felt the need to protect himself'.
The open carrying of long guns is generally allowed in Texas.
First responders are seen preparing to transport Foster to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead
Sheila also said that Foster and Mitchell had been together since they were 17 years old.
Before Foster was fatally shot, he was seen speaking to local media about why he was carrying his AK-47.
In the video, Foster is heard saying: 'They don't let us march in the streets anymore so gotta practice some of our rights.'
Ratliff said a suspect has been detained in connection to the shooting and is cooperating with police.
Police said they are currently searching for a second suspect who is believed to have also opened fire during the protest.
The Black Lives Matter demonstration was streamed live on Facebook and captured audio of a vehicle's horn honking.
Footage posted during the Facebook Live showed the moment when several shots rang out as a group of about 100 people marched and chanted 'fists up! Fight back!'
There were no other deaths or injuries reported. No other details from police or the EMS were immediately available.
Protesters took to streets across the United States overnight into early Sunday, sparking clashes with police, amid a wave of public anger over Donald Trump's planned 'surge' of federal agents into large cities.
Foster's mother Sheila (pictured) said a man driving a vehicle during the protest 'got out of his car and started firing shots, and my son was shot three times'
Sheila also said that Foster and Mitchell (pictured as teens) had been together since they were 17 years old
The demonstrations against racism and police brutality - ignited two months ago by the death in Minneapolis of unarmed African-American George Floyd - come as Trump faces an increasingly tough battle for re-election, and is campaigning on a 'law and order' platform.
He has met stiff resistance from big city mayors, like Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, many of them Democrats who accuse Trump of magnifying the problem for political gain.
Though Lightfoot has accepted federal help from the Trump administration she told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday: 'I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, no troops, no agents that are coming in outside of our knowledge, notification, and control that are violating people's constitutional rights. That’s the framework.'
'We can't just allow anyone to come into Chicago, play police in our streets and neighborhoods when they don't know the first thing about our city. That's a recipe for disaster,' she added.
'That's what you're seeing playing out in Portland on a nightly basis, we don't need that here. That's not a value add, it doesn't help enhance our public safety.'
Protesters marched in Austin, Texas, as well as Louisville, Kentucky; New York; Omaha, Nebraska; California's Oakland and Los Angeles, and Richmond in Virginia.
An incident similar to the Austin shooting occurred in Colorado when a Jeep plowed through a Black Lives Matter march along a highway near Denver Saturday night.
Police said a protester shot a gun and wounded at least two other demonstrators.
An incident similar to the Austin shooting occurred in Colorado when a Jeep (pictured) plowed through a Black Lives Matter march along a highway near Denver Saturday night
One of the protesters who was shot during the mayhem on Interstate 225 in Aurora was taken to a hospital in stable condition. Protesters are seen along the highway where the jeep had plowed through the crowd
Protesters and medical personnel are seen attending to a wounded demonstrator
A woman who also appeared to dodge the Jeep, fell 20 feet off the highway as she escaped to safety, witnesses said
One of the protesters who was shot during the mayhem on Interstate 225 in Aurora was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
The other demonstrator who was wounded showed up at the hospital with a graze wound, the Aurora Police Department tweeted.
A woman who also appeared to dodge the Jeep, fell 20 feet off the highway as she escaped to safety, witnesses said.
A search is now on for the shooter, whom witnesses believed open fire to stop the Jeep.
The driver and passenger from the Jeep were detained after police later located and towed away the vehicle.
In Seattle, police arrested 45 people during a night of violent protests in which demonstrators set fire to trailers by a construction site for a youth detention facility.
Protesters slashed car tires and smashed trailer windows, prompting police to declare a riot and clear the streets with pepper spray and flash-bang grenades.
Police Chief Carmen Best implored people to 'come in peace to the city,' and castigated the demonstrators.
'The rioters had no regard for the community's safety, for officers' safety or for the businesses and property that they destroyed,' local media quoted her as saying.
Protesters marched in Austin, Texas, as well as Louisville, Kentucky; New York (demonstrators pictured Saturday night); Omaha, Nebraska; California's Oakland and Los Angeles, and Richmond in Virginia
Demonstrators took to the streets in New York on Saturday to stand in solidarity with other large cities across the US where President Donald Trump has threatened to send federal agents
New Yorkers made their way to Times Square on Saturday night for a demonstration
In Seattle (pictured, demonstrator being arrested on Saturday), police arrested 45 people during a night of violent protests in which demonstrators set fire to trailers by a construction site for a youth detention facility
Police push a demonstrator to the ground during protests in Seattle on Saturday
A demonstrator kneels in front of police with his hands in the air during protests in Seattle on Saturday
Federal agents were sent to Portland, Oregon (pictured early Sunday morning), nearly two weeks ago by the Trump administration, which has threatened to send more federal officers to other major cities
In Portland, police and federal agents fired tear gas and forcefully dispersed protesters early Sunday.
Police moved in after a group of protesters tried to pull down a fence erected around a federal courthouse.
Portland has taken center stage for the highly controversial crackdown by federal agents ordered by Trump - one that is not supported by local officials, and which many say smacks of authoritarianism.
Saturday's demonstration began peacefully, with crowds playing music and dancing, blowing soap bubbles and attaching red roses to the barricades.
But it ended - like many before it - with tear gas fired after protesters attached ropes to barricades surrounding the city's courthouse in an attempt to pull them down.
Protesters carry painted riot shields during a march on Saturday in Oakland, California
One Oakland demonstrator is seen holding a sign that reads 'abolish the police' during a protest on Saturday
Oakland protesters gather to condemn the use of federal troops in major US cities on Saturday
Hundreds of protesters were seen marching during a demonstration in Oakland on Saturday
Officers arrest a woman in front of the US courthouse in downtown Los Angeles during a protest on Saturday
A demonstrator holds a 'black trans lives matter' sign during a Los Angeles protest on Saturday
Portland police declared the area a riot, ordering protesters to leave, before they were joined by federal officers to clear the area.
Portland police earlier confirmed a man was stabbed, with the suspect 'held down by protesters' before he was detained by officers and charged with assault, according to a statement.
The victim was transported to hospital with a serious injury.
The inspector general of the US Justice Department on Thursday opened an official investigation into the federal crackdown, but an Oregon federal judge on Friday rejected a legal bid by the state to stop agents from detaining protesters.
Trump last week announced a 'surge' of federal agents to crime hotspots including Chicago, following an increase in violence in the nation's third-largest city.
Federal authorities said agents deployed there would partner with local law enforcement, not serve as riot-control forces as seen in Portland.
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