Prosecutors say man who shot protester on [Seattle's] Capitol Hill likely provoked the incident

[alp227]

Source: The Seattle Times

King County prosecutors on Wednesday charged a 31-year-old Seattle man with first-degree assault, accusing him of shooting a protester who was apparently trying to stop him from driving into a large crowd on Capitol Hill on Sunday evening.

Nikolas Fernandez immediately surrendered to police at a barricade outside the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct, where police recovered a 9-mm Glock handgun, loaded with an extended magazine and with a second magazine taped to it, say the charges, which also include a firearms enhancement.

Fernandez, who was booked into the King County Jail just after 12:20 a.m. Monday, remains jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail, jail records show. He has previous convictions for driving under the influence and fourth-degree assault, court records show.

Police say Fernandez claimed he feared for his life and fired in self-defense at a 27-year-old protester who had reached into the driver’s window of Fernandez’s black sedan, according to charging papers. The protester suffered a gunshot wound to his upper right arm, fracturing bone, the charges say.

Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/prosecutors-say-man-who-shot-protester-on-capitol-hill-likely-provoked-the-incident/

[The Magistrate]

1. Doubled Magazines Like That, Sir, Show He Meant a Massacre

Lost his nerve in the pinch, it seems, but he came to kill wholesale.

[regnaD kciN]

3. Probably planning to run over a large number of protesters...

...and then open fire in "self-defense" when the presumed mob charged him.

[regnaD kciN]

2. That's a big "No shit, Sherlock," good buddy...

[Backseat Driver]

4. Seems to me neither showed very good judgment in a rapidly developing

and then, deteriorating mind set soley by perception of what was feared notwithstanding, take violent action in a very difficult situation.

Yet who would say, "I had to shoot somebody" As opposed to what? Running them down? versus reported stories that the protestor wanted to protect others by punching him out or grabbing the wheel carjack style or grabbing at the driver's brandished gun, all through an opportune open driver's-side window.

Hmmm...shall we play which attempted/actual assault is worse than the other when only after the fact explained the fear and perception guided the behavior(s) of each. Sometimes past behavior doesn't explain the human split-second behavior of the untrained yet serendipitously skillful would-be hero; sometimes it doesn't explain bringing and brandishing a loaded weapon, inside or outside a vehicle encountering a peaceful protest while driving much too fast on a road full of pedestrians and then gratuitously saying "I had to shoot somebody!" only to blather on about fear of one's life and property as a reason to IMHO irresponsibly shoot the person who had a not too bright idea and feared the death of others but not his own in the same split-seconds.

Which group were each trying to "fit in" with??? Would you MYOB if you saw what you saw or attempt to change a outcome? What if you also heard the shreaking OMG's of a nearby amateur videographer. OTOH, would you allow your abject fear motivate you to shoot in self-defense yet be entirely oblivious to the perception you just exhibited by fearfully(?) racing down a pedestrian-crowded street you could have avoided by a different approach to your destination in your car...if they were protestors?; if you were just late for work?

Just asking the just-released worms in this can!

[riversedge]

5. "the defendant was driving at an excessive speed given the crowd and conditions."

This man seemed to be looking for trouble.





.............Though it was previously reported that Fernandez is a member of Iron Workers Local Union #86, the charges say he currently works security at Nike Town in downtown Seattle, and was on his way there at the time of the shooting.

“In this case, the defendant drove to the Capitol Hill protests to see ‘how bad’ the protests were. As he turned on to 11th Avenue, he sped up, heading straight for a crowd of protesters,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Karissa Taylor wrote in charging documents. “It is apparent from the reaction of the crowd that the defendant was driving at an excessive speed given the crowd and conditions. As protesters yelled at him to stop, and even put a metal barrier in his path, he continued to drive forward.”.............

[obamanut2012]

6. Where are his apologists on here now?

That hardworking, union man who was just trying to get to work before he was attacked, is what I kept being told.

[csziggy]

7. See post #4 nt

[maxsolomon]

9. People who brought up his Union membership weren't saying that.

His Public Defender said that, as is their job. Defend their client's character and motive.

Maybe it was deliberate, maybe it was stupidity. Time will out.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

8. That dude should thank the guy he shot.

If it had not played out as it did, he could be in jail for homicide.

Or, some good guy with a gun might have taken him out.........