Man with gun at Portland protest charged with 2 felonies

[Joe Link]

Not really sure what to make of this yet. From what I can tell (so far) it seems many basic carry rules were broken here. What are your thoughts?

I understand that tensions are high with these BLM-related shootings, protests, etc. but please try to keep this thread civil and on-topic.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The counter-protester who allegedly pulled out a gun during a Portland rally to protest the deaths of two black men shot by police in Minnesota and Louisiana was charged with two felonies and taken into custody during his court appearance on Friday.

Michael Strickland, 36, was initially charged with menacing and disorderly conduct. He was charged with two felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon and held on $250,000 bail.

Strickland arrived at his Friday court appearance with a bodyguard.

Prosecutors said Strickland had five magazines of ammunition on him when he pulled out the gun. He also had a knife.

Man with gun at Portland protest charged with 2 felonies (http://www.kgw.com/news/crime/man-with-gun-at-portland-protest-charged-with-2-felonies/267984309)

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[clearconscience]

You can't tell me this guy wasn't hoping or planning on fighting cops or at very least use that weapon if anything had agitated him.
5 mags? He was ready for something. That's not making a statement.

So was he threatened by protesters or by LEOs?

I've carried down town when I had to be downtown for work when people were protesting, but I wouldn't go loaded for combat.
Even though I probably should.

 

[Member 5605]

He has always carried while filming.

I've watched a lot of his videos and in them he does take a lot of abuse. Every video I've seen only starts right before he draws.

Nothing backs up the claim of feeling threatened and his attempts to back away are shown in the videos. He always has been passive.

Remember that Skye Fitzgerald a year ago ran into him with his car and broke his shoulder. He has taken abuse and he is well known in the establishment crowd in Portland.

His defense is on his camera.

 

[clearconscience]

'Hit the ground!': Trump supporter pulls gun on Black Lives Matter rally in Portland (http://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/hit-the-ground-trump-supporter-pulls-gun-on-black-lives-matter-rally-in-portland/)

I was under the assumption this guy was with the protestors. Now I think he's a bigger idiot. He wanted to be put in a position to draw his gun.
I hope he gets charged and sent to prison. I'm sure he will be well liked there.
Guys like this give conservatives and firearms owners a bad name.

 

[scrandall01215]

Looks like he was trying to flee and felt threatend, after threat was gone he reholstered his sidearm. Looked like self defense to me!
Stacy

 

[The Heretic]

1) I question the wisdom of anybody going to any of these gatherings at this point in time. The possibility of violence is demonstrable. Why people took their kids to the DFW gathering is beyond me.

2) Why take a weapon to such a gathering? I understand that there is a danger there. But it should be obvious that the actual greater danger is getting into a mess like this guy did.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

If he felt that his life was in danger then he acted in self-defense. That said, when he knowingly put himself into that situation armed he was taking on the risk that just such a thing would happen. I hope he gets off, but I question his judgment.

 

[Garg]

This one is a real mixed bag for me. Mike and I have been friends for many years.
Do I think he used good judgement in this situation, No, I do not.
Do I agree with his politics, not really, but I support his passion and right to do what he does with every fiber of my body.
I personally think the lesson here (for which he looks like he is going to pay dearly for) is about when and why to pull a weapon. I cannot get into his head, but pulling a gun, is always going to be a last resort for me, and if I DO pull a gun, I had better damn well be sure the situation calls for it, and I intend to use it.
I think (with out knowing his exact circumstance) that he should have been a little thicker skinned in this situation, and just avoided as best as he could the people who were allegedly advancing on him. If we ever do get to see the footage from his camera, that led up to his pulling a gun, we might understand better why he did. Based on the "other" footage that I have seen, I question his judgement.

 

[308]

Meanwhile millions of gun owners stayed home, minded their own business and are enjoying their weekend unencumbered by the foolishness of the zombie hoard.

 

[Certaindeaf]

If he felt that his life was in danger then he acted in self-defense. That said, when he knowingly put himself into that situation armed he was taking on the risk that just such a thing would happen. I hope he gets off, but I question his judgment.

I didn't click but I don't think you have to feel that your life is in danger to "pull your gun (?)". Pretty much every LAPD officer "pulls" his duty gun many times a day.. on regular non-felony traffic violation stops.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Meanwhile millions of gun owners stayed home, minded their own business and are enjoying their weekend unencumbered by the foolishness of the zombie hoard.

i went shooting with my 2 year old today! couldnt ask for a better saturday

 

[nammac]

Difficult call, but if he felt that he was in danger of physical harm, one does have the duty to defend oneself.

I don't believe Oregon has a mandatory flee clause on the books yet. So, if he perceived his life in danger, then he had every right and should be home drinking a cold one now.

Like how the media pounded on him having 5 magazines. What if those magazines each contained only 5 rounds? Still excessive? I think not...

And oh my gosh, he had a knife too... He must have just been looking for trouble... A sidearm, 5 reloads and a knife... Sarcasm off...

But it is Portland afterall... Hipster land...

 

[Doc In UPlace]

HEAVILY armed!!!! It felt like a bazooka!!!

There's just not enough data there in the crap-o-vision narrow scope cell video to see what the crowd was doing or not doing.

The reporter said he was there with his cameraman. Why aren't we seeing that professional camera video, instead of the toy cellphone video? That seems suspicious.

The news story begins after the confrontation started, shows almost nothing of the crowd, there was a KGW cameraman there but no video from that unit? Why not?

I don't like this story as it appears so far.

On another aspect, what the heck is anyone doing down there anyway, by yourself, apparently confronting a not-real-friendly-mob? It makes no sense to me to put yourself in such a poor tactical position. So I don't like this aspect of it, either.

To sum up, I don't like the reporting, I don't like the tone of the crowd/mob and I don't like the guy going down there alone to confront them, nothing about this is good.

 

[bolus]

is this the laughing at liberals guy?

 

[Garg]

is this the laughing at liberals guy?

yes

 

[bolus]

yes

thanks. makes sense why he was there and why he was armed. Did they guy that broke his arm go to jail?

I met him briefly at the capital protest over sb 941. I'm not surprised that he was down there filming

 

[No_Regerts]

I didn't click but I don't think you have to feel that your life is in danger to "pull your gun (?)". Pretty much every LAPD officer "pulls" his duty gun many times a day.. on regular non-felony traffic violation stops.

It will be what suits the local government agenda. If he was in a pro-gun area, the narrative might be different where he is instead applauded for his restraint.

In 12 years as an LEO, policy has changed from having to fill out an incident report for drawing a weapon to where things are now where nothing is really an issue until some situations where you have to point it at someone. I would guess I draw my sidearm a few times a month.

 

[The Heretic]

He may or may not have been justified in pulling his gun - I tend to reserve judgement on such things - it isn't up to me to decide.

However, I can say I think he used poor judgement in going there in the first place, and now, justified or not, he will most probably have to spend considerable funds and time to defend himself in court, and he will be lucky if he is acquitted on any or all of the charges. If he has a job, he probably just lost it. I am not sure what he was trying to prove, but I would bet in ten years, when he looks back on this, he will at least question whether it was worth it.

 

[Garg]

Here's the thing. News stations are never going to side with a "gunman". They will never show on air anything that would support a man defending himself. It's just not their agenda.

The tragic irony here is that in this 17 second lapse of judgement, he has probably done more harm to the local gun community, and probably all but UN-done ANY good he has done, in this one momentary lapse of judgement. He will now be ridiculed by the media, the local LEO/DA, and all liberal's, and I am guessing many (as I have already seen evidence of) of the local gun owning community, be written off as a whacko, and relegated to the "Who's name we shall never speak" category. I just hope he gets through this with a minimum of legal implications, but I doubt it.

 

[etrain16]

If he felt that his life was in danger then he acted in self-defense. That said, when he knowingly put himself into that situation armed he was taking on the risk that just such a thing would happen. I hope he gets off, but I question his judgment.

Exactly. He chose to be there and to remain there. He is going to have a hard time defending himself when he could have chosen to leave at any time. He kept putting himself in a situation where he may have been in some kind of danger (seeing the videos I have so far, I don't see evidence that his life was ever in danger), but honestly, he didn't do what he should have - left. I've got no sympathy for folks that intentionally put themselves in such situations. I purposely stay away from things like that myself for just that reason.