An Antifa member was arrested and charged for shooting an anti-vaxxer and Proud Boys member during a rally at the Washington state Capitol building earlier this month.

Benjamin Anthony Varela was arrested this past Thursday after video footage allegedly showed him shooting Proud Boys member Tusitala Toese. A rally protesting COVID vaccine mandates was held on September 4 by anti-vaxxers who employed the Proud Boys as their security. A few dozen Antifa members crashed the protest in an attempt to shut the rally down.

The above video footage shows the Antifa running while dressed in all black. The clip allegedly shows a hooded and masked Varela turn around and fire five shots from his 9mm pistol towards a group of protesters, striking Toese. After shooting Toese, Varela reportedly ran into an alley and discarded his black attire.

Varela, who had a long history of posting far-left extremist content, tried erasing his social media accounts prior to his arrest. A member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Varela's Twitter posts showed that he corresponded with multiple DSA chapters and an anarchist-Communist website. In addition, his YouTube page featured an Antifa flag as the profile picture and he was suspended from the forum website, Something Awful, multiple times for posting his extremist views. Before deleting his Twitter account, his bio read, "professional anarchist, thug, and paid protester."

Following the shooting, the police interview Varela's girlfriend who admitted they attended the protest. After executing a search warrant, law enforcement discovered a handgun under Varela's bed. Varela's girlfriend confessed that all of the guns in the home belonged to him.

The 36-year-old has been charged with first-degree assault while armed with a deadly weapon and is being held on $100,000 bail. Toese's injuries were not fatal.

Source: NY Post