Man with local ties witnesses deadly Dallas shooting

Jose Vela met his wife, a Rexburg native, online. Vela moved to the area shortly after. The couple now calls Dallas home and Jose was at the protest when he heard gunshots go off.

“I saw a whole bunch of people running [and thought] what’s going on?,” said Vela.Vela works with what he calls a “decentralized project ran by citizens” it’s called “Dallas Cop Block”. Vela frequently observes police behavior. He says it’s to hold “police accountable for their actions”.

When Vela was in downtown Dallas Thursday he was confused by what was happening as it all unfolded. “At first I thought maybe the police were corralling people” and then all of I sudden I heard “they’re shooting they’re shooting.”

With Vela’s work with the group he says he is often labeled as a “police hater,” but he cannot imagine what the families of the officers killed are going through.

“I don’t know if they know what we’re going through myself as an observed or what the protestors are going through I saw the fear in their [the officers] eyes and their faces,”said Vela.