Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations, a company involved with providing an unlicensed security guard to 9News who fatally shot a man at a 2020 rally, has reapplied for a license in Denver to employ private guards.

The company’s application in December comes after a district court judge overturned the revocation of the company’s license in June 2022.

Denver judge overturns revocation of Pinkerton’s security employer license tied to fatal rally shooting

In October 2020, following a pair of dueling political rallies in Denver’s Civic Center, 49-year-old Lee Keltner was fatally shot by Matthew Dolloff following a confrontation. Dolloff was working as private security for 9News, Denver Gazette’s news partner, but he did not have a license to work as a security guard in Denver. There is no state license required to work as a security guard.

Pinkerton subcontracted with Isborn Security Services, which provided Dolloff. Denver’s Department of Excise and Licenses found that Isborn’s liability for directing or permitting an unlicensed person to perform security services also passed to Pinkerton.

The city’s department of Excise and Licenses revoked Pinkerton’s license in June 2021. 

Proposed settlement between Pinkerton and city attorney’s office rejected

But a Denver judge overturned the revocation, agreeing with Pinkerton’s argument that the Department of Excise and Licenses misinterpreted a city ordinance. Pinkerton had argued that because the part of the city code that holds employers accountable in the context of license sanctions for actions of people that work for them refers to acts during “his or her employment,” it refers to liability for the actions of an actual person – not another company.

The Denver Gazette reached out to Pinkerton for comment.

Pinkerton’s new application, dated Dec. 6, states the company will authorize guards to carry guns, batons, pepper spray and tasers. The company has also submitted a request for a weapons endorsement, one of the required steps in Denver for guards to be armed.

Denver’s city code does not require a hearing for Pinkerton’s license to be approved, according to a spokesperson.

Dolloff’s criminal case, in which he was charged with second-degree murder, went on for more than a year until Denver’s District Attorney Beth McCann dropped the charge last March. She said Dolloff shot Keltner in self-defense.