Who is Dean Schiller? YouTube won't remove citizen journalist's disturbing Boulder shooting live-stream video
The mass shooting at a supermarket that left 10 including a police officer dead, was recorded by a citizen's journalist who live-streamed the massacre in real time for 30,000 viewers subscribed to his YouTube channel. The shooter, who was first arrested as a suspect, has been identified as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa and was charged with 10 counts of murder.
Identified as Dean Schiller, the man live-streamed the horror for three full hours, capturing the shooting that happened on Monday, March 23, in Boulder, Colorado, where the shots were fired inside the King Soopers supermarket on Table Mesa Drive. The video begins shortly after the first shots were fired and sees Schiller interact with cops to gauge proceedings as they happened.
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Who is Dean Schiller?
Schiller describes himself as a citizen journalist behind the ZFG Videography YouTube channel. He documented the mass shooting as it happened and broadcast it live for his viewers who had little information beforehand. Schiller did draw some criticism for filming dead bodies and bloodied victims, but the video also showed him engaging in arguments with police officers who tried their best to get him to evacuate the scene. Schiller's video sees him speculate about the identity of the shooter who has been arrested as a suspect, and what his motives could have been.
Schiller's video, which saw him broadcast police tactics being employed in real-time, has amassed over 560,0000 views on YouTube as of Tuesday, March 23. Although YouTube has applied a warning label to the video, the platform has mentioned they have no intention of removing it. “Following today’s tragic shooting, bystander video of the incident was detected by our teams,” Elena Hernandez, a YouTube spokesperson, said in a statement to VICE News. “While violent content intended to shock or disgust viewers is not allowed on YouTube, we do allow videos with enough news or documentary context. We applied an age restriction to the content and will continue to monitor the situation.”
Live-streamed for 3 hours
As the live stream went on, for three hours viewers discussed and guessed the possible identity of the gunman in the live-chat window that appears next to live-streams on the portal. Soon conspiracy theories about the shooting also emerged. “The comments section was wild with speculation about potential suspects, as well as anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories including that the attack was a false flag,” Jordan Wildon, a researcher who tracks far-right extremists, has shared with VICE News. “These were fueled by what was shown on-stream.”
The video soon drew further criticism, this time for making police tactics taking place accessible to the shooter inside the store through the live stream. The Denver Gazette has also reported that the police had asked media outlets to not reveal information as such. Among those calling out Schiller's imagery of the victims were researchers and journalists, who criticized the show of dead bodies and slammed him for making his own speculations and encouraging theories about the entire horror.
There's a YouTube livestream of a serious shooting incident in Boulder, Colorado.
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) March 22, 2021
Clips from the livestream, including graphic footage of people who seem to have been shot, are spreading on other platforms, including Twitter.
Please don't share them and report those who do.
"There's a YouTube livestream of a serious shooting incident in Boulder, Colorado. Clips from the livestream, including graphic footage of people who seem to have been shot, are spreading on other platforms, including Twitter. Please don't share them and report those who do," BBC's Shayan Sardarizadeh tweeted. Amarnath Amarasingam, an extremism researcher, also tweeted: "A reminder after #Boulder Immediately after an attack: -Don't post photos/videos of injured/dead - only helps attackers (and makes you a dick) -Don't speculate about "may be multiple shooters" (creates panic, and you don't know shit) -Don't speculate about who did what and why"