It has been discovered that the shooter who murdered people at a bar in Dayton, Ohio was a member of the progressive group Antifa.
Connor Betts, who murder nine people this weekend, attended armed protests with Antifa in May, months before his attack, WHIO reported.
The May 25 rally attracted about 500 to 600 counter-protesters who opposed the nine Klansman who came from Indiana and protested in Courthouse Square. The counter-protest group was fenced 0ff away from the Klansman and several people in the crowd were seen carrying firearms.
Hasan Karim, who knew Betts and grew up in Bellbrook in the same high school class, was in the crowd accompanying freelance journalists and was taking pictures of the event. Karim bumped into someone in the crowd and the man told him ‘You don’t know me.’ The two said hello to each other and Karim recognized Betts by his voice, body and mannerisms in their brief interaction.
Betts wore a bandanna covering part of his face and sunglasses. He carried a gun which appeared to be similar in style to the one used in Sunday’s shooting. He did not appear to be part of any group that was in the protest crowd.
The Indiana KKK group’s rally and counter-protest events resulted in no arrests, no uses of force by police, and no injuries.
Mayor Nan Whaley said she was relieved, but reiterated her frustration that a small number from out of town having such a large impact on city operations for months. She also said the planning helped shine a light on issues that continue to divide the community.
“This ugly chapter is over, but it means we have to get back to the real work: making sure that no matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love, you can have a great life here in Dayton,” the mayor said.
A friend of the shooter who spoke to The Dayton Daily News that Betts was “definitely not a right-leaning person. His political views definitely leaned to the left.”
Is Antifa a terrorist group?
“He was getting a little violent with friends,” his friend Will El-Fakir said. “He started bringing guns around us for no particular reason.”
“There were times when he went to bars and just scoped the place out,” El-Fakir said to The Dayton Daily News.
“He’d say, ‘If I brought this-or-that through here, it would have done some damage,’” he said in his interview.
“No one really took him seriously,” he said. “We were all young guys and we had known each other for years. It’s not something you’d see your friends doing.”
The friend said he is for the right to bear arms but Betts was “definitely not a right-leaning person. His political views definitely leaned to the left. And believe it or not, he was actually pro-gun control. He was actually anti-2nd Amendment.”
“I don’t know if this is the motive that made him snap,” he said. “(but I think) he donned himself with that ballistic vest just to show people how easy it was to arm themselves. It’s pure speculation.”
If what the friend said is accurate it would mean that Betts murdered those people to push for gun control and it would be the first Antifa terrorist attack.
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