Dallas: Person of Interest Turns in Firearm to Cop

[easy-e]

This is how police encounters with legally carrying civilians should go. Philando Castile was a good guy and was legally carrying as well. Such a tragedy.

I thought something wasn't right about the media pushing info on the guy in the camo shirt who was open carrying an AR. Turns out he was just a regular guy exercising his right to open carry. When his friends saw his picture online he immediately went and turned over his rifle to the police. The cop did a fantastic job as well. I'd be interested to see if he gets his rifle back.

Cell phone clip of his encounter with the officer:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1301867203160114

Backup Link Here:

Interview with his lawyer:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1302068939806607

Read More

 

[Doc In UPlace]

It makes the point I have repeatedly made, carrying guns in an urban setting like that, especially in a demonstration about police killing suspects is frankly a fantastically idiotic thing to do.
Just because you CAN doesn't men you SHOULD do something. He's lucky he wasn't killed outright. Proof god loves idiots and fools.
YMMV.

 

[easy-e]

It makes the point I have repeatedly made, carrying guns in an urban setting like that, especially in a demonstration about police killing suspects is frankly a fantastically idiotic thing to do.
Just because you CAN doesn't men you SHOULD do something. He's lucky he wasn't killed outright. Proof god loves idiots and fools.
YMMV.

I completely agree. Last year for May Day I went up to a friend's bar on Capitol Hill because he wanted more people there to try to deter vandalism. I chose not to carry for many reasons and some of those were also why I chose not to drive and park my car up there either.

 

[Member 5605]

Good for him.

A: he had zero ability to know that the protests would turn violent

B: he was exercising his 2nd and 1st rights legally

C: when he found out he was being sought he quickly made himself known and that he was not a threat


So what you guys are saying is when you go and protest anti-confiscation laws and infringement laws, you have to choose what amendment (singular) you want to participate in at one time?

Kudos to the guy. Damn armchair warriors. He was not in the wrong and does what was right when suspicion arose.

 

[Joe13]

Good for him.

A: he had zero ability to know that the protests would turn violent

B: he was exercising his 2nd and 1st rights legally

C: when he found out he was being sought he quickly made himself known and that he was not a threat


So what you guys are saying is when you go and protest anti-confiscation laws and infringement laws, you have to choose what amendment (singular) you want to participate in at one time?

Kudos to the guy. Damn armchair warriors. He was not in the wrong and dos what was right when suspicion arose.

^^^ Best answer

 

[Joe13]

If things pop off at a demonstration, it's not always the cops you have to worry about...

Open Carrying can be a double edged sword. On one side y'all that think (as I do sometimes) that it isn't smart or ideal to walk around with a rifle in the city are right.

On the other side of that sword though is the right to excersise your rights in this country freely without fear. If you don't then it's just giving them one more small slice of the cake.

Being PC is not always the best route to go.

 

[bbbass]

I have the right to drive my car off a bridge, the right to own 19 Pit Bulls, the right to use tobacco, the right to pee on an electric fence, and the right to open carry... all things I'm not going to do unless I am at a shooting competition.

If one wants to be provocative, one is taking a chance. Yes, that person has made a statement about 2A rights. IMO there are better ways to go about that.

 

[Flopsweat]

I'm an advocate of open carry but encourage people to consider the environment where they will be carrying. A political rally can be a great place to open carry a rifle, but a protest run by an organization that has openly called for the killing of police officers, maybe not. In the end the gun owner comported himself very well I think. I hope he gets his gun back immediately. I certainly understand why they would want to hang onto it for the night, but they have no use for it at this point.

 

[groth]

I see a completely reasonable reaction to the situation by all parties involved here. I see a man who was a person of interest or suspect, who calmly went to a police officer, and complied with the officers requests. The suspected person of interest slowly removed his firearm and relinquished it to the officer, was questioned, and later released. This was how it should work, and even in the current moments of chaos there, when police were being gunned down by unknown suspects, police calmly took this man's firearm, and took him into custody. He was not shot for being black with an AR strapped to himself in this situation.

If the gentleman was to resist orders from the police because he has all the "rights" to do so, it could have ended differently. I did not see the police draw their firearm on him as he walked up to them. I did not see them over react because he was black, and carrying a scary black rifle. Luckily this guy found a reasonable police offer to deal with, and the parties involved in this interaction went home safely.

I see no reason this firearm should not be returned to this guy. What a crazy country we are living in these past few years.

 

[Flopsweat]

I have the right to drive my car off a bridge, the right to own 19 Pit Bulls, the right to use tobacco, the right to pee on an electric fence, and the right to open carry... all things I'm not going to do unless I am at a shooting competition.

If one wants to be provocative, one is taking a chance. Yes, that person has made a statement about 2A rights. IMO there are better ways to go about that.

The driving off a bridge competition sounds compelling, but the peeing on an electric fence contest? I suppose I might watch, but I don't think I would compete in that one.

 

[Brutus57]

^^^ Best answer

I agree the guy was right in what he was doing but timing ultimately sucked....if I am the guy I approach the LEO both hands n the air with lower butt stock up by magwell and complete upper in other hand with upper receiver pointed to the sky by me holding the barrel at the flash hider. Dude is lucky some over vigilant CCW didn't take him out based on social media. It looks like a big old pile of Beirut in our future as a nation.

Brutus out

 

[Flopsweat]

I agree the guy was right in what he was doing but timing ultimately sucked....if I am the guy I approach the LEO both hands n the air with lower butt stock up by magwell and complete upper in other hand with upper receiver pointed to the sky by me holding the barrel at the flash hider. Dude is lucky some over vigilant CCW didn't take him out based on social media. It looks like a big old pile of Beirut in our future as a nation.

Brutus out

That sounds great at first, but you're expecting the LEO to whom you present yourself to recognize that the two gun-looking things in your hands are incapable of firing. No dis, just sayin'.

 

[PaulB47]

I wonder if that guy ever got his gun back...

 

[clearconscience]

Yeah but this obviously did it correctly and within the law. Some other idiot that may seen him do this and decide to bring his loaded AK may not do so intelligently and may result in something bad happening. This wasn't the right platform for this cause.
Protesting for a cause that is known to be aggressive or promote violence against police and carrying an open weapon is just down right braindead.

 

[soberups]

An ostensibly peaceful protest march is not, in my opinion, an appropriate venue to open-carry a rifle as a form of protest speech.

 

[nwslopoke]

It may have had something to do with the new Texas Open Carry Laws and rifles.

I'm not close enough to any group to join in their protest. Some one once said, if there are more than three people in any protest group, one of them is the government. Also, protesting alone (by itself) is not a solution. Where's the plan? BLM, KKK, Girls Scouts or who ever, can peaceably protest. Especially in PDX, there are too many sub-protesters that want to piggy back your protest. I had a lazy protester.

 

[PaulB47]

Protest marches are certainly difficult venues for open carry, but that does not mean they are impossible. Provocateur action is a factor to deal with in any kind of protest. If you see cars being turned over, you can pretty much assume a cop or federal agent is the instigator. There are youtubes where you could see provocateurs being "outed" in some protests.

OC in peaceful protest marches has one particular benefit - you are not likely to see cops going around busting heads, as often happens in marches with no arms obviously present.

Of course the point of a lot of marches is precisely to see and record cops busting heads, so as to discredit the local ruling class. In that case the deterrent effect of OC would not be wanted.

Most commentators seem to assume that nonviolent resistance and firearms are not compatible, but I wouldn't make that assumption. For example, Martin Luther King and his protesters were often protected by the armed Deacons. But then, he didn't actually have them present during the marches, but after them.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I agree the guy was right in what he was doing but timing ultimately sucked....if I am the guy I approach the LEO both hands n the air with lower butt stock up by magwell and complete upper in other hand with upper receiver pointed to the sky by me holding the barrel at the flash hider. Dude is lucky some over vigilant CCW didn't take him out based on social media. It looks like a big old pile of Beirut in our future as a nation.

Brutus out

I agree with the thought that the US may end up another Beirut in the future.
I disagree with disassembling the rifle into its two main components and holding them at "hands up!"
I would have probably kept it slung and slowly approached the officers with hands held high.
Really glad everyone kept they're cool and no one was harmed!

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

If things pop off at a demonstration, it's not always the cops you have to worry about...

Open Carrying can be a double edged sword. On one side y'all that think (as I do sometimes) that it isn't smart or ideal to walk around with a rifle in the city are right.

On the other side of that sword though is the right to excersise your rights in this country freely without fear. If you don't then it's just giving them one more small slice of the cake.

Being PC is not always the best route to go.

the only PC i am is Pro Carry

 

[PaulB47]

Interesting tidbit: the Philando Castile shooter was not light brown (aka "white"), but medium brown (aka "hispanic").

Cop who shot Philando Castile identified by authorities (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3680175/Minnesota-cop-Jeronimo-Yanez-identified-man-shot-Philandro-Castile-panicked-aftermath-live-streamed-Facebook-officials-rule-death-homicide.html)