A protester a shot a man he thought was a “white supremacist” during a protest outside a speech by Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos on Friday. It may have been a case of “blue on blue” violence.

The man who surrendered to police in connection with the University of Washington shooting Friday night was released after telling investigators he fired in self-defense during a campus protest, according to two law-enforcement officials briefed on the case.

No details about any confrontation between him and the critically wounded man were available Saturday. But one of the law-enforcement officials said the man who fired the gun claimed he had been assaulted before shooting the other man, whom he believed to be some type of white supremacist.

The condition of the wounded 34-year–old man improved from critical to serious Sunday, according to Susan Gregg at Harborview Medical Center, where had undergone underwent surgery. Gregg said the man remained in the Intensive Care Unit, but was breathing on his own. His name was not released.

The shooting, which occurred during a protest of a Friday-night speech at Kane Hall by Breitbart News Network editor and provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, remains under investigation.

Surprising no one, the protesters had turned violent long before gunfire rang out.

At the UW, people began lining up for the Kane Hall speech, sponsored by the College Republicans, late Friday afternoon. The crowd began clashing about two hours later, when a group of people dressed in black showed up and forced its way to the front of the line.

Police formed a line outside to help ticket-holders get in, but protesters surrounded them. Several people were hit with paint, and officers dodged flying bricks.

The”tolerance” happened as the shooting victim and others rushed other protesters in the crowd.

The man thought to have fired the shots is believed to be the Asian man in the yellow hat (yellow arrow below), while the victim is the bald man who appears to have charged him (red arrow below).

Here’s the video that captures the confrontation.

https://youtu.be/kDHJK0o0MZs

I can’t make out the gun during the shooting, and thanks to the crowd movement between the two men and the camera, I can’t tell if the man who was shot was assaulting the man in the yellow hat in such a way as to justify armed self-defense. He certainly rushed him and got in his face and appears to have been pushing him at the very least, but I can’t tell if the level of violence rose to the point justifying deadly force. It will be interesting to see how the police investigation plays out.

I would note that everyone, regardless of their politics, has the natural right to armed self-defense.

I do ask that you use good judgement and obtain quality self-defense training from a professional before you do carry, however. You need to know when it is appropriate to use a firearm in self-defense, and have the gun handling skills to use your firearm efficiently, judiciously, and with minimal risk to those downrange.