Bar owner kills himself hours before facing court over death of Black Lives Matter protester

A US bar owner has died by suicide hours before he was due to face court over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man.

Jake Gardner, 38, was charged with manslaughter five days earlier over the death of James Scurlock, 22, during Black Lives Matter protests.

Mr Scurlock was killed during heated demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice outside Gardner's bar in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 30.

On Sunday, Gardener was found dead outside a medical clinic in Oregon having taken his own life, his lawyer Stu Dornan said.

“Unfortunately there are two men who have died in a terrible tragedy," Mr Dornan announced.

"It's a terrible tragedy for the Omaha community, it's a terrible tragedy for James Scurlock and his family. It's a terrible tragedy for the Gardner family."

Gardner was due to return to Omaha on that same night after a warrant for his arrest was approved on Friday.

The 38-year-old was also charged with attempted assault, making terroristic threats and using a gun to commit a felony. However, he had argued that the shooting was done in self-defence.

Accepting this argument, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine initially decided not to charge Gardner.

However, following intense criticism, a grand jury was called to examine the case, resulting in charges being filed against him.

Mr Dornan said Gardner, who had gone to California after the shooting, was "really shook up" after the grand jury's ruling.

"The grand jury indictment was a shock to him, and it was a shock to us," Mr Dornan said.

Another lawyer, Tom Monaghan, who also spoke during Sunday's news conference, said "the community of Omaha had convicted Mr Gardner on social media."

Surveillance footage seemed to show Gardner being pushed to the ground by two people during the clashes before he fired shots, USA Today reported.

Special Prosecutor Frederick Franklin has said the grand jury reviewed additional evidence that Mr Kleine did not have, including texts from Gardner's phone, messages on his Facebook profile and his interactions with bystanders before coming into contact with Mr Spurlock.

Mr Franklin declined to provide details of the new evidence showed, except to say that it undermined the notion of defence.

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