Armed Security for NBC News Another Example of Media Hypocrisy on Guns

U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “A shooting in Denver on Saturday afternoon at a ‘BLM-Antifa Soup Drive’ has left a conservative demonstrator dead, whom police say was shot and killed by a security guard hired by NBC News affiliate 9NEWS,” The Post Millennial reported. “This story has been updated to reflect new information from the Denver Police that indicates the shooter is believed to be private security for a local television station. Initial reporting from the Denver Post stated that the shooter was a left-wing activist.”

The update reflects the way this story has seemingly continuously unfolded, and in a way that suggests some interested in narrative over truth aren’t that eager to talk about it. After all, if the predominant meme to spread is to paint “rightwing extremists/supremacists” (e.g., the standard smear for any man who is not a Democrat/socialist) as the greatest domestic threat, it doesn’t pay to highlight their opponents as anything but “peaceful protestors.”  Still, it makes fair the question: If you wouldn’t call him “a left-wing activist,” what the hell would you call the guy?

Not unexpectedly to those of us who pay attention to such things, the deep digging and heavy lifting are not being done by the DSM (Duranty/Streicher Media), which has the resources. Instead, we have to turn to those who the “official” journalists dismiss as “just a blogger.”

Self-described “independent journalist” Taylor Hansen has been sharing what he has uncovered about the “security guard,” Matt Dolloff, on his Twitter feed.

“Here Matt is pictured at Occupy Wall St. He had a very extensive past of Activism and speaking out against corporations and the police,” Hansen claims. “He’s been heavily involved in #Occupy which later pushed members to ANTIFA.”

“Matt is a registered Democrat. Not just a Democrat, but a Socialist,” Hansen explains. “His love for Bernie runs deep, deep enough to have a YouTube playlist dedicated to him.”

“As you see, past posts from his Facebook show signs of early radicalization, anti-trump and anti-cop rhetoric. He also openly supports BLM,” Hansen elaborates. “Pulled from his Twitter following, he is a far-leftist with public ties to Occupy as well as… ding ding ding— ANTIFA!

“He also has a Space Invaders tattoo, a common logo used among ANTIFA. Matt Dolloff is 100% ANTIFA,”  Hansen concludes. “Will Mainstream Media outlets redact falsities and cover the TRUTH? I doubt it.”

That’s a pretty safe bet. Because no one is more “mainstream” than NBC News, and its 9NEWS Denver affiliate is playing coy with its responsibilities to control those it inflicts on the public.

“KUSA said it had hired the guard through the Pinkerton security firm,” a report by The Tennessee Star relayed. “’It has been the practice of 9NEWS for a number of months to hire private security to accompany staff at protests,’ the station said.”

Pinkerton, for its part, is trying to kick the can even further down the road.

“As it relates to the incident in Denver on October 10, the agent in question is not a Pinkerton employee but rather a contractor agent from a long-standing industry vendor,” one of the firm’s corporate flacks posted on Facebook, no doubt at the direction of risk management attorneys. Note the “industry vendor” was not identified.

The reluctance to elaborate is understandable, especially noting Dolloff turns out to have not been licensed, and those who employed him are being looked at by the Denver City Attorney’s Office with criminal charges in mind.

“The Denver Department of Excise and Licenses states if Dolloff was operating as a security guard, he was in violation of the law … The company he works for is also legally responsible for making sure all their security guard employees have a license,” CBS Denver reported, noting the suspect is being investigated for first-degree murder. “The department also says security guards are prohibited from carrying or using a firearm without getting an armed firearm endorsement for their license. All security guards in Denver are required to get a federal background check before they receive their license.”

Dolloff’s family attorney claims it was self-defense, noting the man he shot and killed sprayed him with pepper spray. Other reports say “photo imagery reveals that [victim Lee] Keltner only deployed pepper spray after Dolloff pointed a gun at him. The slide of Dolloff’s pistol is already seen cycling as Keltner uses pepper spray- a non-lethal weapon- in self-defense.” That will be for a jury seeing the evidence and hearing the facts to decide.

With all this as a backdrop, the real reason this story is worth bringing to special attention with gun owners is to point out the hypocrisy of an NBC News affiliate employing armed guards to protects its people. It’s especially ironic considering NBC News ignored the Operation Fast and Furious “gunwalker” story broken by, you guessed it. bloggers, and instead gave Al Sharpton and Elijah Cummings national air time to call such reports an “election-year witch hunt” against Eric Holder. Meanwhile Today’s “national investigative correspondent” went to Phoenix, of all places, to stage phony “straw purchases” for the camera and to further spook an ill-informed audience that there was a desperate need for more infringements.

It’s reminiscent of New York’s The Journal News doxing local gun owners and then hiring armed security guards when “Editor Caryn A. McBride was alarmed by the volume of ‘negative correspondence,’ namely an avalanche of phone calls and emails to the Journal News office, following the newspaper’s publishing of a map of all pistol permit holders in Rockland and Westchester.

These people think they can attack and subvert our rights at will, but when it’s their precious hindquarters on the line, the first thing they think of is protecting themselves with guns. Well, more to the point, protecting themselves with men with guns, since we are, after all, dealing with DSM betas and handwringers who admit to suffering from PTSD after shooting a gun easily handled by a little girl.

UPDATE: After this article was submitted, I received a story link claiming “9News crew didn’t know security guard who shot demonstrator was armed, station says — The television station says it specifically requested unarmed guards from Pinkerton agency.” If true, it’s fair to wonder how they think such a measure would offer any protection whatsoever, and rather than telling us what they asked for, producing the contract would remove all doubt.

About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.