Silent protests across the country in response to the death of George Floyd—the unarmed citizen who was murdered by Minneapolis police on May 25—have turned into chaos.
In Salt Lake City, Utah, a man drove into Downtown on Sunday and yelled "All Lives Matter" from his open car window.
He proceeded to get out of his vehicle and aimed a bow and arrow at demonstrators and was poised to shoot before being tackled to the ground.
The man later identified himself as Brandon McCormick and said he was there to protect the police.
All Lives Matter Bow and Arrow Man youtu.be
Twitter user @Gingersonfire posted a video of McCormick appearing to take aim at the protesters, and wrote:
"He got out of his car, yelled 'that's it,' and shot into the crowd before being tackled."
A civilian brought a hunting bow to the #slcprotest and began shooting it at protesters. https://t.co/UYZFtISb9I— Titania v. 2.0 (@Titania v. 2.0)1590883749.0
They added:
"He was yelling at me, and then aimed his bow at a Black man standing behind me."
"The Black man saw it coming, charged, and tackled him."
@elchapablo @Gingersonfire Yup. I just hate when random elk cross my path and I forget my knife, bow and arrow at home.😐— 💥(\/)axwell💥 (@💥(\/)axwell💥)1590945506.0
After the crowd disarmed McCormick, his vehicle was lit on fire.
The SLC police retreated and allowed rioters to light the man’s car on fire. https://t.co/aXhBhXQODO— Titania v. 2.0 (@Titania v. 2.0)1590884258.0
Another video showed a different angle of McCormick aiming his weapon into the crowd before being jumped.
WOW: Man in Salt Lake City pulls bow and arrow on protesters blocking traffic and the protesters swarm him, disarm… https://t.co/MAtAz1RKMZ— Michael James Coudrey (@Michael James Coudrey)1590886413.0
McCormick was interviewed later at the scene and described the consequences of threatening a crowd of people.
"First I got beat up when I yelled, 'all lives matter,' then I pulled out weapons and got beat up some more."
"Then cops grabbed me and my car got totaled ... I lost everything trying to come down and protect them with what weapons I had."
@Gingersonfire Wheeew this whole fiction. https://t.co/WkxiQFbNfw https://t.co/QybwVvx811— Inside Agitator (@Inside Agitator)1590923303.0
When asked how he got the cut on his forehead, he claimed he was "beat up" by two Black men through his vehicle window. But video of him shows no cut on his head before he got out of his vehicle to aim his weapon into the crowd.
He added:
"I'm a changed civilian, I've changed my life, I back up the law enforcement."
"I know some cops are bad."
@brat2381 @Gingersonfire @34Dweaver Acting all victim-like...I just said all lives matter and people beat me up Boo… https://t.co/uQFLTwabma— Archimedes-Curve looks good NY.Don't be stupid!🦉Ω (@Archimedes-Curve looks good NY.Don't be stupid!🦉Ω)1590982524.0
One Twitter user had this to say after those defending McCormick called his being disarmed an assault.
@MichaelCoudrey It's not assault to disarm and subdue someone attempting to murder people.— Anthony (@Anthony)1590891867.0
@MichaelCoudrey I know that’s right. He deserved to get beat up.— ACAB| FUCK THE POLICE| BLM (@ACAB| FUCK THE POLICE| BLM)1590887652.0
Here is a photo of his car in the aftermath.
@Gingersonfire Posted up by the dudes car after https://t.co/F9nxyj3dpB— 🗡🗡 (@🗡🗡)1590911147.0
@deepinthehallow @Gingersonfire @slcpd @georgefloyd He’s lucky he didn’t die aiming a bow and arrow at a pushed off mob brilliant— dannylongisland (@dannylongisland)1590943711.0
It appeared McCormick had another weapon in his arsenal.
"Another video has surfaced showing Brandon McCormick exiting his vehicle with a machete and walking around with it before his vehicle was targeted by protesters."
Update: Another video has surfaced showing Brandon McCormick exiting his video with a machete and walking around wi… https://t.co/1n1soGykS2— Titania v. 2.0 (@Titania v. 2.0)1590900409.0
@DarthRukkus @Gingersonfire More like a 🥩 steak knife— Hipnoera Out Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=- (@Hipnoera Out Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-)1590945790.0
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall set a citywide curfew in place on Saturday for 8 p.m. after vandalism and looting.
SLC's curfew expired on Monday at 6 a.m.
McCormick is known to have posted several racist memes on Facebook.
The Salt Lake Tribune also found an old post on McCormick's Facebook page in which he told followers that he wished he could go back in time to "take out" former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when they were "in the crib."
Though it remains unclear whether or not McCormick fired off an arrow, the Mayor said the "All Lives Matter" driver is expected to be charged for his actions on Sunday.