by Cassandra Fairbanks, The Gateway Pundit:
Special Prosecutor Fredrick D. Franklin gave a press conference on Wednesday discussing the case he brought against Omaha bar owner Jake Gardner — and essentially used his support for President Donald Trump to justify the political persecution against him.

Gardner killed himself over the weekend, after being hit with multiple charges for killing a rioter that was attacking him and his bar.

Franklin explained that the day before the shooting, President Trump tweeted “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” and said that it was significant that Gardner’s “affinity for the president” was well-known.

Franklin said text messages to and from Gardner make references to looters and “how they could be dealt with.” Apparently, talking about defending yourself means that when rioters come smash windows at your business, you cannot defend yourself.

Franklin also stated Gardner was “philosophically opposed” to the reason for the protest, which also, apparently, negates his right to defend himself. He admitted that the rioters were smashing windows and vandalizing the bar, but downplayed it.

“Jake and others sat inside the Hive, with the lights off, and vandals and people engaged in destroying did just that,” he said. “But one thing they did not do…there was not a single attempt to go inside the property.”

He claimed that by being at his business, with the lights off,  “Jake Gardner had set up an ambush inside his business, waiting on a looter to come in so he could ‘light him up.’”

Garner was a Marine and veteran of deployments to Iraq and Haiti. He described himself as a libertarian, but voted for President Donald Trump in 2016 and volunteered for his campaign in three states. By all accounts of friends and acquaintances that the Gateway Pundit has spoke to, he was a nice guy who cared very deeply about the world around him.

On May 30, the 38-year-old veteran confronted a group of rioters outside one of the bars he owned in Omaha because one of them had just shoved his 70-year-old father. He was knocked to the ground. “From there, he fired two warning shots and tried to get to his feet, prosecutors said. As he did, Gardner got into a fight with one man, James Scurlock, 22. The two scuffled before Gardner fired a shot that killed him,” Yahoo News reported.

The incident prompted a wave of further “protests,” particularly after Donald Kleine, the Douglas County attorney, determined that Gardner had acted in self-defense and declined to bring charges. Protesters even repeatedly showed up to his home, demanding that he file charges, despite the overwhelming evidence that Gardner had acted appropriately and in self-defense.

Read More @ TheGatewayPundit.com