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The fateful incident began when mostly peaceful protesters attacked his bar "The Hive" near 12th and Harney. Scurlock's friend Tucker Randall threw a signpost at the front. When Gardner and his 69-year-old father David went out to investigate, Randall knocked David Gardner onto his back.
David Gardner, holding a knife, pushed Scurlock, who was unarmed. Scurlock pushed a bystander next to Jake Gardner. Walking backward, Jake Gardner lifted his shirt to show a gun, saying "Don't (expletive) with me."
That must have been the "terroristic threat."
He pulled the gun and briefly held it down by his side, then returned it to his waistband. At that point, a woman tackled Jake Gardner from behind, knocking him on his back. Randall hovered within inches of the two as they struggled. Jake Gardner fired what he called two warning shots — the grand jury found that one of the shots was an attempt to assault Randall. Both the woman and Randall ran away. Three seconds later, Scurlock jumped on Gardner's back, the beginning of the 18-second struggle.
Scurlock got Gardner in a headlock and ignored his pleas to let go. Gardner fired over his shoulder, killing his assailant.
At first, this was acknowledged as justifiable homicide. Then politics came into it. Jake Gardner was white, James Scurlock black.
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