Protesters tackle man brandishing loaded hunting bow at Utah rally, video shows

A man threatened protesters with a loaded hunting bow Saturday at a Salt Lake City rally before onlookers tackled and beat him, videos show.

The crowd then flipped his vehicle, which caught fire, a second video shows.

“That was a horrible situation,” said Police Chief Mike Brown, reported The Salt Lake Tribune. Police are looking into charging the man, whom they have identified.

National protests erupted this week after video emerged of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he begged for air Monday during his arrest on suspicion of fraud.

Floyd, a black man, later died. Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, has been arrested in the death. He and three other Minneapolis police officers also have been fired.

Some of the protests, which have spread from Minneapolis across the nation, have resulted in clashes with police, fires and looting.

More than 24 U.S. cities have enacted curfews, and the National Guard has been called out in 12 states and Washington, D.C., The Washington Post reports.

A video posted to Twitter shows a bearded older man exit his vehicle in the midst of a Salt Lake City protest on Saturday. The man produces a hunting bow and nocks an arrow, pulling back the bowstring as he scans the crowd.

“Look at this!” shouts a woman. The man says something unintelligible about his car.

“You call yourself an American?” the woman asks.

“Yes I’m an American!” the man shouts. “All lives matter!”

He appears to point the loaded hunting bow toward several protesters, the video shows. It’s unclear from the video whether he fires at any of them.

“Don’t you dare!” shouts the woman before other protesters rush the bowman and tackle him. More protesters swarm the man, jostling the person shooting the video.

A KUTV reporter on the scene says the man’s face was bloodied and he was escorted away by police, according to the station.

A second video posted to Twitter shows the man’s vehicle later overturned and on fire.

The incident took place between City Hall and the Main Library said police, who asked any witnesses to come forward, reports The Salt Lake Tribune.

In a Twitter post, Salt Lake City police said the man was not in custody but they would screen charges against him.

This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 12:26 PM with the headline "Protesters tackle man brandishing loaded hunting bow at Utah rally, video shows."