IOWA CITY, Iowa – A white military veteran shot and injured a 15-year-old girl when she fired at a car carrying four black teenagers during a tense confrontation at a rally in support of President Donald Trump near the Iowa Capitol for the last month .
Michael McKinney, 25, is charged with attempted murder in the December 6 shooting in Des Moines. McKinney, who was heavily armed and wearing body armor, told police that he fired in self-defense. A resident of little St. Charles, Iowa, McKinney posted on Facebook in support of the far-right Proud Boys and against Black Lives Matter.
In a press release detailing McKinney’s arrest, state police described an afternoon shooting in a parking lot and did not mention the Trump car rally or the race of those involved. A city police spokesman said initial reports indicated that the shooting was related to traffic. Criminal Investigation Division spokesman Mitch Mortvedt said the agency released the facts and immediate circumstances as needed.
But an Associated Press review shows that the shooting was triggered by a belligerent political conflict between a large group of white Trump supporters and four unarmed black girls, all aged 16 and under.
The teenage driver’s mother said the girls had argued with Trump supporters about politics and had been subjected to racial slurs. Event attendees blamed the teenagers for starting the confrontation, saying they were harassing and threatening the crowd.
The girls’ car ended up surrounded by Trump supporters who shouted and honked before the driver backed up and hit a pickup truck. It is not clear whether the collision was accidental. McKinney told police he shot that point to protect himself.
An investigator said in court documents that McKinney does not appear to be among the rally participants who exchanged words with the girls before the shooting. Spectator video obtained by the police shows McKinney approaching the vehicle, pulling a gun from his waist and shooting the car 4.5 meters away, according to court documents.
The bullet hit the leg of a girl who was arguing with members of the crowd through the vehicle’s sunroof. The car sped out to take her to the hospital.
The owner of the 73-year-old pickup truck, Bob Brekke Jr., told the AP he was happy that McKinney shot the car and scared the girls, saying he feared they might be armed.
“I felt relieved,” said Brekke, whose truck was scratched in the collision.
Brekke said the girls had been shouting anti-Trump epithets at him and others as the demonstration progressed through the heavily democratic city. He said the vehicle was driving wildly, getting in and out of the trailer, and followed him to the parking lot where the route ended.
Fans of the president, who gathered to support his attempts to subvert the November election, initially “were having fun” teasing the girls, said Brekke.
Brekke, a retired airport security worker, said he asked if they were in retirement and unemployed. He said they called him a white supremacist and threatened him and his wife.
McKinney’s lawyer Kent Balducci said the Jan. 6 mafia attack on the US Capitol, which included many ex-servicemen, will not help his client’s case because the public will make comparisons.
But he argued that “political factors are strange” and that McKinney’s actions should be seen as self-defense. The teenage driver may have used the vehicle as a weapon, instead of just trying to escape the angry crowd, he said.
Balducci said McKinney was wearing a bulletproof vest because he had been threatened during Trump’s previous rallies and feared for his safety when the car backed up.
Trump supporters criticized the authorities for accusing McKinney, arguing that his shot protected the rally participants. They include an Iowa Department of Public Security official who organized the event and raised funds for McKinney’s defense.
McKinney, who left the Iowa National Guard in 2017 after a five-year military career, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. McKinney remains in jail after a judge last month rejected his request to reduce a $ 500,000 bond.
Danielle Gross, the mother of the teenage driver, said her daughter was so traumatized by the shooting that she hurt her cousin that she did not leave the house for a week later. She said the girls made an unwise decision when confronting the rally participants and that the situation quickly worsened.
“They were saying some racist slander and the girls argued with them and it went from there,” Gross said, adding that she has not heard from the police since the day of the shooting and that she fears for the safety of her family.
Authorities declined to comment on whether the shooting may have been motivated by race. Polk County District Attorney John Sarcone noted that the attempted murder charge against McKinney carries much more time in prison than a state hate crime charge, which is no more than five years old.
After the shooting, McKinney apparently tried to cover his tracks by placing the spent cartridge in the trunk of his car and not initially introducing himself as the sniper, court records show.
After others identified him, he admitted his role and handed over his pistol. Police said he carried two magazines loaded in his pants and had another firearm in his vehicle, which was equipped with Trump stickers.