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Man Who Argued With Lee Keltner Moments Before He Was Shot To Death Says He Fears For His Life

Jeremiah Elliott Details Confrontation Before Deadly Protest Shooting In Denver by CBS Colorado on YouTube

DENVER (CBS4) - Matthew Doloff is expected to face a judge Monday morning to be formally charged with second degree murder. He was at dueling protests in downtown Denver on Oct. 10 working as a security guard for 9News when he was arrested for shooting and killing Lee Keltner. Jeremiah Elliott, the man at the center of the exchange that moments later ended in Keltner's death, spoke about the shooting and says his life is now in danger. Keltner was seen having a verbal altercation with Elliott seconds before he turned his attention to a news crew and was fatally shot.

Dualing rallies in Denver leaves one dead
Two men yell at each other as another tries to break it up after a rally in Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado, on October 10, 2020. The two rallies, one right-wing and one left-wing, were held in Civic Center Park. One person has died and another man, who 9News confirmed was a private security guard contracted by them, is in custody after a shooting during dueling protests Saturday in downtown Denver. The rallies at Civic Center on Saturday came less than a month before a presidential election and amidst a global pandemic that has the nation on edge. Until the shooting, the protests mostly consisted of each group chanting and yelling at one another from across the amphitheater, which separated the two groups. The man on the left in this photo was later fatally shot. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

There are still many questions that are unanswered about the fatal shooting. Most importantly is how the verbal altercation began between Jeremiah Elliott, who appeared to be alone, and the group that Keltner was with.

"It was an entirely peaceful rally until the shooting victim decided to do an assault against me and our news company and that's what it is," Elliott said.

Many of the videos that were captured of the commotion on Oct. 10 show an incident in progress -- when the verbal altercation has already begun.

"Mace me, m___________. Mace me, m___________. I've got the right to stand my ground," Elliott says in one.

"I was out there expressing my opinion. If people chose to assault me, they chose to draw weapons, to have a confrontation with me that's choosing to continue having a confrontation and I'm not willing to give up my beliefs. I'm willing to die for what I believe in," he told CBS4.

Elliott says he has now received death threats and his personal life has been spread online. During the interview with CBS4 he was wearing a bulletproof vest.

"There's a lot of right wingers and biker gangs talking about assaults on me so I'm taking all the security precautions. I keep armed security with me at all times. I have several security teams," he said.

Elliott claims to be a registered Republican and says he isn't associated with either right or left wing sides that gathered on Oct. 10. He appears to be one of the people who was involved at a fight at a Bernie Sanders rally in Denver in February.

fight bernie sanders rally (2)
(credit: CBS)

When CBS4 asked him about it he said he had no comment about that, but he said he was a victim of racism in the Oct. 10 incident.

"People can call me an agitator and say that I was anticipating a fight but I was expressing my beliefs. I never made any threats to anyone. I didn't bring any weapons."

RELATED: Keltner's Wife Calls Announcement Of Charges 'Positive First Step'

In another video posted online, it appears to show Elliott celebrating the death of Keltner. When CBS4 asked him about that, he said he had no comment.

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