A witness to the fatal shooting of Garrett Foster at an Austin Black Lives Matter protest over the weekend has cast doubt on the shooter’s claim that he was acting in self-defense. Foster, 28, was shot and killed Saturday night when he approached a car while carrying a rifle. The unidentified motorist has claimed that Foster pointed the weapon directly at him, causing him to shoot the protester—but eyewitness James Sasinowski said the driver initiated the violent encounter. “I want to be very clear that the driver incited the violence—he accelerated into the crowd of people and he shot first,” Sasinowski said. “This was intentional. It was aggressive and he accelerated into a crowd of protesters... He could have waited for us to pass or he could have gone slowly. We would have allowed him to go through.” The driver accused of shooting Foster was brought in by police for questioning and was released pending further investigation. Austin Police Association President Kenneth Casaday tweeted that Foster was “looking for a confrontation and he found it.”
